Unexpected
by princessofthescoundrels
Summary: After the celebration Artemis laggs behind and gets something she would never have expected, or something she refused to let happen. post TLO. Ares/Art. Rating for mild language at some points. COMPLETE! Ch 1 rewrite!
1. The Kiss

**Hey guys! I've been thinking about this story a lot lately, and I realized I was NOT happy with how this chapter came out. At all. So I'm re-doing it! Let me know which version you like better. The other one was really OOC and dumb. I'll admit it! So, I'll probably be redoing a few things in this story. It'll take a while but the shorter chapters will get some work.**

**Bear with me guys!**

The stars twinkled high up in the sky, the hunter Zöe seemed to jump across the heavens, hunting unseen animals. The majority of Olympus was asleep after a long day of fighting. Gods rarely slept, but after the long war a break was needed to revitalize their strength. Only a select few stayed up for various reasons. For example, Artemis decided to watch the stars.

The moon goddess got a new life at night and was often awake at that time in order to hunt. Though fatigue pulled at her senses, she kept a firm head while thinking about the past few weeks.

Kronos was dead and Camp Half Blood would be returning the next year. All was well. But a slight nagging tugged at the corner of her mind and told the goddess to wait in the Hall of Statues. The mental voice was not evil, and many of the gods had long ago succumbed to the wants of their minds. If one did not listen to their inner voices, chances were that bad things would happen.

So here she was, early the next morning, staring out into the sky, wanting answers. Artemis never liked the quiet because that gave her time to think. Her young girl body kept her hormones at an awkward stage in puberty so ever since she decided on being forever young; a war of the hormones took place every day. Her body battled for the want of a man by her side, but her extreme sense of self- control kept her hormones at bay.

That's why she hunted, and trained, and rarely thought. But here, in the comfortable darkness, she entertained the possibility of changing back into a full grown woman in order to crush the desire for a man, and one man in particular.

Being a strong willed goddess, these types of females were often attracted to strong types of men. Despite what kind of god you were, purity for instance, the pull was undeniable. Ever since Aphrodite arrived that had been the law and the cause for so many weak willed gods looking for a mortal mate.

She understood what her huntresses went through every day and finally why some deserted her. The pull worked for even the gods and goddesses chosen ones. It took an immense effort of self control to crush that pull, a skill that even the most purist of goddesses had yet to master. It was in that familiar dark that Artemis decided to change a few things, one of which being her appearance. She decided to tackle the body of a seventeen year old. Maybe it would make her seem more in control.

So the goddess closed her eyes and allowed her bones to grow, her body to stretch only a few more inches. She would be short so her huntresses would not feel overly intimidated. 'I'll look in the morning,' she thought to herself. The stone bench she was sitting on was comfortable, and the stars were friendly tonight.

It was only until she heard a rustle that she paused. It was a man cussing as he stubbed his toe against one of the statues.

"Who in the name of Zeus decided to turn off all the lights?" Ares voice broke through the dark and it hurt Artemis' ears. Suddenly three balls of fire erupted from his fingers to land strategically on lanterns surrounding the statues. The introduction to light caused Artemis to blink a few times in discomfort. When she could see again, her eyes landed on Ares, leaning against a pillar and rubbing his thigh in pain. She nearly smiled when she saw his own statues spear next to his injury.

After he had taken care of his wound, his eyes roamed the circular garden, taking in the different statues. He did a double take when seeing Artemis and his eyes furrowed in confusion. "Why're you here?" he asked.

Artemis didn't want to make the calming mood that the place offered but sighed and answered him. "My inner voice told me to go here."

He merely said, "Ah." Then, with a signature swagger that was only his, he walked up to the bench she sat at.

Artemis glanced up at him, her eyes conveying confusion. He just returned her look with a tired one and shook his head up to the heavens.

When a few moments of a companionable silence passed, Ares looked back at her to study her features. "You look different," he told her bluntly.

Artemis noticed with a start that Ares looked different, too. He looked younger. The tough lines that crossed his face were gone, though the battle scars remained. Now he looked like a troubled college student strayed off campus. "I needed a change," she said quietly, her mind whirring. This was the first time in many centuries when she had a conversation like this with Ares, and she took notice of the fact that when his eyes weren't burning, they were a deep hazel color. 'It makes sense,' she mused to herself. 'Hazel eyes change color easily.'

Ares sighed back, uncharacteristically. "I know what you mean." His eyes narrowed as he studied her some more and she became unnerved with his scrutiny. "You look good," he declared. "Older. More mature. You should keep it."

Artemis got suspicious at this comment. "What's wrong Ares?"

He sighed once more and looked down at his hands. "You won't think different of me?"

Artemis rolled her eyes. "I will if you keep blubbering on like this. What're you going soft?"

He sharply turned his head towards her. "No!" The fire in his eyes burned once again. But then they slowly turned hazel when his shoulders slumped. "Aphrodite and me broke up."

Artemis was truly surprised. "Why?"

"I don't know!" he exhaled quickly. "My voice just told me to take a walk and as I was walking past the lake, I saw Aphrodite. She told me that she was moving back in with her husband and didn't want to see me anymore. I have no idea why!" Artemis studied his facial expressions. She was not very experienced in the relationship process, but she did know that Ares should be more upset than he was letting on by a broken relationship that lasted a few thousand years.

"You're not upset," she announced after a while. Ares began to protest but she glared at him. "You're upset, but not about her."

He shifted uncomfortably. "I'm not sure if I'm happy or not about this. She was always goofing around and I need someone more… mature. She was all fun and games. But I don't like how I was just dumped like that."

"May I be bold?" Artemis asked him. Ares nodded. "I never liked her." A brief smile crossed his face.

"Sorry I'm telling you all this stuff," he apologized. "It's just that I know you're the only one who'd never laugh at me. Ares, the great war god, broken by a little lady."

Artemis thought over her response. "You're mean, cruel and demanding. She's mean, cruel and demanding. People thought it would work." A sarcastic smile found its way up his face. "And besides, now that you're single you have more time for war- related activities."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." He looked up in the sky once more. "That one's new," he murmured.

"Two years old," she informed him. "My dead second in command, Zöe." He nodded.

"Thalia's your new one, right? Zeus' kid?" Artemis was surprised that he actually sounded interested.

"Yeah." A few more minutes passed. "Can I tell you something that'll make you feel better?"

"Go nuts," he sounded passive.

"I've never kissed anyone before," a faint smile decorated the lover half of her face but never quite made it to her eyes.

Ares shook his head and looked at her. "Somehow that doesn't surprise me."

She raised an eyebrow. "But now you have blackmail material."

Ares laughed, a harsh sounding noise. It was obvious that it was not something he did very often. He brushed some invisible dirt off of his leather pants. He stared at his hands for a moment then stiffened, a thought occurring to him.

Sensing that something was up she asked, "What?"

"You've helped me," he started slowly. "Maybe I can help you." He now was looking straight ahead, up toward Zeus' living chambers.

Artemis was no dummy and she knew where this was going. "You want to kiss me." It was said in a monotone, very calmly.

Ares shrugged and looked at her. "Sure, I mean, you've helped me, and I'm taking away any reason people'll make fun of you. It's a win- win situation."

Artemis closed her eyes, thinking this over. Ares was a playboy, a rouge, and mostly perceived as a bad guy. But at meetings and other events she could see through his exterior and thought of him as a thoughtful, fun guy. 'It wouldn't be so bad to be his friend,' she thought. She opened her eyes and her brown gaze met his hazel one. "Okay."

He noticeably gulped; he didn't think she'd take him up on it.

He took her oval face in his hands, but not before checking that there was no one in sight, and softly placed his lips on hers.

I guess he didn't look hard enough.

…**Well?**


	2. The Interruption

Allright guys so wisegirlindisguise guessed the lyrics, but no one guessed where the romantic scene came from!! It's about the most romantic movie scene in history besides Gone With The Wind dudes!!!!

Ok, hint: "I love you."

"I know."

Now if no one guesses that I will be seriously mad. I am, after all, a child of Ares!!! JK!!!!! And so the story continues...

Thanks to everyone who reviewed. It really means a lot. This was also added to couple people's favorites lists, so thanks!!!!

* * *

After the celebration, Hermes was going into a godly depression. What do most people do when they are depressed? They excercise, become anerexic and have a couple of kids. You can only imagine what gods do when they are depressed.

And Hermes, in all his grief, was taking a jog around Olympus and happened to pass the party site. By doing this, of course, saw Artemis and Ares locked in place.

He crouched in a nearby honeysuckle bush to watch the embracing gods. And while he was a bit preoccupied, Martha and George started slithering out of his pocket! Of course, being the annoying creatures that they are, the intertwined snakes began slithering to the couple.

Hisssssss hissss...

They slithered and slithered until they were right up to Ares' ear and they screeched:

"_Wha'ja doin'?"_ Which was quite rude.

Artemis screamed and fell straight on her godly butt. She jumped up with all the grace of a cyclops and backed up, jamming her butt straight into the arrow of a cupid statue. She rubbed her sore behind and took off running.

"Now wha'ja do that for?" Ares was mad, his hazel eyes turned back into fire.

_"We're just saving your reputation sir!" _Martha seemed apologetic. Maybe a little scared, Ares eyes did that to you.

_"Yeah the gods will kick your godly butt!" _George. There are no adjectives that describe George. With this Ares fire glowed brighter.

"Where is Hermes? If you're here, he's here too!" Ares looked around wildly, George and Martha took this as an opportunity to get the Underworld out of there.

You see, while Ares was having it out with Georgie and Martha, Hermes had enough scense to make it seem like he was just running up to the celebration site.

"Why, Ares! What are you still doing here? I though you were going to take a canoe ride with ol' Aphro!" And for good measure, the God of Theives panted and wiped his brow. He took acting lessons with Apollo on Tuesdays and Thurdays.

"Oh don't give me your godly crap! Are you telling ME that these interjoined pit heads slithered ALL the way over here by themselves?" Ares stood up with one swift motion and jabbed a finger in Hermes face.

"Listen paper boy, if anything leaks on the Hephestus TV about anything you 'didn't see' then I will make you wish you had never stolen Apollo's cows and made a god. I can do that." And with that threat, Ares turned on his heel and stormed away. Little did he know that Hephestus had planted a video camera on his jacket and had seen everything.

Things were about to get a whole lot more interesting.

* * *

Ok so I know that was really short but I just needed a lead in to the next chapter. I just love this story so much and its just so much fun. I will be updating a ton more stories from now on because I finally got my laptop fixed. I probably won't be updating this week though. I have stinkin' mid term exams.

May the force be with you!


	3. The Discovery

To parakeetlover- do it!!!! no need to be shy! I would love to read anything you would write on it!

To artemis-roth- thanks for the reviews! they mean a lot to me.

To 1337silvermaster- thanks for the advice, i hope i did better on this chapter

To ARandomBlonde- yep you guessed it... and are you actually blonde?:)

To Anonymous Sender- cool name!

To wisegirlindisguise- nice picture! thanks for my first review!

and so we go...

* * *

"Aphrodite, I'll be right back, I have to check on something." Hephestus said in his gruff voice.

"Hurry back honey!" Aphrodite called from the couch.

He rolled his eyes and opened the door into his editing and recording studio for his television channel. He yawned, stretched and turned on the video that he recorded yesterday, the one taped on Ares jacket.

Hephestus didn't even look at the tape, he just knew that after the celebration Ares probably went to the mortals to celebrate. He just knew that whatever was on that tape was going to embarrass the heck out of Ares and he was fine with whatever was on that recording. He aired the tape.

Little did he know the trouble that was going to be caused. How could he possibly know?

Ares-Artemis-Ares-Artemis-Ares-Artemis-Ares-Artemis-Ares-Artemis-Ares

Artemis awoke the next day in her silver tent with a light feeling, like she was floating on a cloud. Well, actually she had floated on a

couple of clouds and the comarison was quite accurate.

But she also felt a little uneasy, like the air was tighting around her.

The feeling stayed as she took her morning stroll around Olympus. Every eye brood into her back and made her feel self concious.

Her unease quickly dissapeared though as she approached her hunters tents that were lined up on the edge of Olympus. Thalia was sitting on a treestump and tugging at the edge of her Avril Levigne 2004 tour t-shirt nervously with one hand while stroking a doe with another.

When the hunter reconised her leader, she sprung from her treestump and rushed over, black cropped hair flying in all directions.

"M'Lady, are you allright?" Thalia reached Artemis and put both her hands on the goddesses shoulders. Her eyes locked with Artemis and were filled with a deep concern despite the goofy smile that had been rooted on The Goddess of the Moons face.

That smile quickly dissapeared though when all the other healthy hunters started gathering around Thalia with the same concerned look.

"Yes... I'm fine... why shouldn't I be?" Thalia looked at the hunter on her left with sad eyes and the arms that held Artemis had fallen to her sides again. "Thalia, what's going on? What aren't you telling me?"

Thalia shook her head sadly and ushered her into the nearest tent, her tent, where a small television was held upon a small table. As technology was illegal in the hunters ways, Artemis raised an eyebrow Thalia's way but Thalia just shook her head again and gestured to a small pillow before the T.V.

The Hunters all parted for her, whuch wasn't unusual but still a little weird. Artemis sat scepticly. She looked left and right to her Hunters, who raised their arms symbolising that she should turn it on.

With a shaking hand, the goddess pressed the on button.

_"Has the goddess of Maidens finally cracked after 2,000 years? Impossible you say? No, not impossible. It has been proven that late yesterday after the reception Ares the War God approached the goddess and they, well, the video says all..." _Then the Minor Goddess of televison blinked off and the camera that was strapped to Ares' jacket began. Artemis stared at the screen dumbfounded until the video was over, ending at Ares' threat.

Her breathing became shallow and ragged. Her mind raced. How? Who? What? Why? Her thoughts swam around her until one stayed. 'Ares set me up'.

Although untrue, it seemed unlikely to the goddess that anyone else would purposefully make her look bad. She was mad.

She was very, very mad.

Ares-Artemis-Ares-Artemis-Ares-Artemis-Ares-Artemis-Ares-Artemis-Ares

Ares awoke at presicly 9:00. It was a Monday after all. He stretched and got out of bed.

Now of course after recent events he was feeling very proud of himself so he treated his ego to a nice long bath.

The god changed (black leather and white shirt, black leather and white shirt, ooh, white shirt and black leather!) and sprayed on some cologne (extra buff: for the tramps)to get his day started.

He was waltzing along the pavement, feeling very good for someone who has been just broken up with, and then, all of a sudden, a wave of unease hit him.

What could it possibly be? Yesterday had been one of the best days of his life! There was war, romance and terror! What could possibly be wrong?

But the feeling stayed. All the gods were looking at him, eyes burning with an untold rumor. He stopped strutting and kicked a loose stone.

He stared menacingly at the minor gods and they all went back to what they were previously doing.

Ares shrugged and continued on his way.

When Ares reached the outdoor cafeteria, though, the anxious feeling came back. Every eye was upon him. The god of war chuckled silently and went through the breakfast line. Even the checkout lady (the god of check out ladies) stared at him.

He picked out a seat in the way back and plopped his tray down. He yelled at the astonished faces.

"Well, what are YOU lookin' at?" They all went back to their food.

Ares sat down and flipped on the mini T.V. that was set up at every table moodily.

He watched.

He gasped.

A fork clattered to the floor.

Hermes. It was all Hermes' fault. And he would pay.

* * *

Sooo... how goes it? Its a little longer than the last chapter but... I thought it was good!

You will review. You will.


	4. The Revelation

Ares was madder then when someone stole the Minotaur's Fruit of the Loom underwear on boxing day. He was so blinded by pure rage that he didn't even register the fact that he was halfway to Hermes' postal air service shack. The fire in his eyes was of a dangerous blue and his large fists' were clamped so tightly together that they had turned white, his lips only a thin line.

Ares' raised his left hand and rapped against the white-on-blue door with such a force that his hand broke through to the other side, forgetting the doorbell.

He cursed Cronos in ancient Greek and rubbed his sore hand.

Hermes bright blue eye peered through the fist made hole, fixing hard on Ares' fire ones. He then took a step back and called in his best 'I Love Lucy voice'- "Who eeess eett???"

Ares scowled and repied with his best 'Im gonna kill you' voice "The paperboy. Who do you think smartass?"

Hermes then opened the broken door. He looked tired, like he hadn't slept all night, which of course he hadn't. After his confrontion with Artemis and Ares he had to go and break the sad news to May. It had to be done. He spent the better part of the night holding the broken-hearted May Castallan and trying his best not to break down in tears himself.

But he was in Olympus again nevertheless, and even though the past day had felt like a dream, it was no apparation that the fuming war god stood in front of him.

Donned only in his robe, he opened the door wider, yawned, ran his hand through his salt-and-pepper hair and guestured vigorously for Ares to step inside.

Ares did, but not without the old bang- shoulder- against- other guys' technique. Hermes' living quarters were nice and simple. Actually, it looked much like a child's bedroom. The ceiling was covered with model airplanes from both World Wars 1 and 2, the walls were filled with diagrams of birds and other flying creatures. The whole room was white and blue, his caduceus and messenger bag were lying on his couch. Martha and George were chasing one another across the marble table in front of the couch. The place didn't look like it was used much, but for Hermes being the messenger god, he probably didn't have much time to himself.

"Well, sit down." Hermes moved his hand to the general direction of the couch.

Ares swaggered over to the couch and sat down, making a point that his flaming eyes never left the messengers god's. Ares put his feet on the table and in the process almost crusing the conjoined snakes. George stuck his forked tounge out and they slithered away.

"Ares. What did I, a poor meek god, do to get your divine presence in my shack? You realise that never once in two thousand years did you come to pay me a visit. Why have I been singled out on this fine day? Oh and you look so much better! Did you do something with your hair?"

Ares sneered. "Actually as a matter of fact, I decided that a longer look would flatter my features more." Hermes chuckled and Ares continued, "Now, don't pretend for a moment that you don't know why I'm here. You of all people should know."

"My dear egotistical one, if this is about the broadcast this morning I assure you I had nothing to do with it." Ares stood up and held up a finger and looked like he was about to interupt when Hermes continued, "My alibi. After my snakes... interupted you... no you listen to me Ares!... after my snakes...erm... walked in on your party.... I went to earths surface to confort my distraught lover." Ares opened his mouth. "Oh no you don't Ares. I want to explain this to you. Several years ago Hades secretly put a curse on a previous Oracle's host, trapping the spirit in her body. But as we gods did not know this, my dear May, the mother of my darling Luke, tried to release the Oracles spirit from the old hippies body. Instead she lost her mind. As a result of this, Luke grew up rejected, believing his mother was crazy. This is why Cronos grew strong. This is why he almost over threw Olympus. Think about it Ares, why would I play such a prank on you after my heart had broken so? Are you really that narrow minded to think that I would broadcast that stupid show for my own entertainment?"

"Hermes, you are the god of pranks, of practical jokes. This seems the thing you would do. If YOU didn't do it, then WHO did?" Ares pointer finger found its way to Hermes face again. During the story his eyes had almost estinguished to their hazel but now they were once again ablaze.

"Gee, I don't know. Who is always trying to make a fool of you by putting hidden cameras all over the place and airing it on an OLYMPUS televison program? Oh my gods who could it POSSIBLY be?" Hermes' voice dripped with sarcasm, for he was getting fed up with Ares and his big head.

"Hephestus." It was just one word but in that one word all the hate in the galaxy was crammed. Ares turned and stormed out of the shack. Hermes cursed all the way to the bedroom to get dressed for work. It was going to be a long day.


	5. The Hunt

Wow this capter is like super long! Wow! I should be doing homework right now but.... well i was in a mini breakdown because of this super mean flame I got so I was consitering deleting it. But then I was like that was 1 in like, 60 so here's another chapter. Enjoy!

Thanks to all reviewers! It means a lot....

Disclaimer: Meesa dont be ownin' any Percy Jackson anything. Unfortunatly for me.

To S.D. My insperation. Thanks for Harry Potter and Percy J. and Ella Enchanted. You are the bestest friend ever! I owe my obsessions to you!

* * *

Any other man on this earth, even god, would have felt pity for Hermes and his touching story. Instead Ares who broke this law, felt no pity, no fear, nothing but his own arrogence. But this ws changing very fast. So fast it scared him to no end. How can one person in the past day change his whole outlook on life? He was doubting his mistakes, trying to correct a wrong that would have normally just enflamed him. Now it created a new feeling... embarassment.

Even when that brat Percy stabbed him in the ankle, he just felt angry, not at all embarassed. Now he was fighting the blush from the passerbys, the stares brooding into his broad back.

Face held high, he stormed to Hephestus hideaway on Olympus. This is the place he stayed when he didn't feel like going to his workshop. One thing stopped him from entering though. And it was dressed in white from the head down, brunette hair flying. It was also very short. Artemis.

This was the last thing he needed right now, another fight. The old Ares looked forward to their fights, enjoyed them to no end. Delighted to see her blush, turn beet red, think of a clever enough restort. Now it was just wearing, and it just didn't help that she had her arrows strapped to her chest ready for action.

"Ares!" He swiftly turned on his heels in a way of avoiding the coming storm. But this only infuriated the goddes even more. She rushed to keep up with his long strides. "Ares!"

"What do you want?" He turned so abruptly that she bumped into his chest, which made him smirk.

"You know very well what I want!" Artemis gathered her dignity and stood her gound.

"Aww right now in front of all these people?"

This made her mad. Furious.

"THAT'S not it. I want you to tell me what you did! Why you did it. How you got it." Her arms crossed, eyes went a darker shade of brown. And of course seeing her in this war- like state only wanted to egg her on. He was the war god after all.

"I want to know how YOU can be so bossy. Plus it wasn't my fault. This time. That stupid jerk Hephestus planted one of his stupid automatrons on my jacket to film an embarassing moment." His tone sugested 'well, duh' like he thought of it himself.

"EMBARASSING! You're the stupid one for not knowing that you have a camera on your chest! I mean, how can you miss something like that? You should know that after _centuries _of embarassment, of rage, of consantly being annoyed, that something like this would happen? Just because you like beating up gods who make fun of you. You go looking for a fight. Because YOU want it. Why are you going to Hephestus right now? For YOU. For your reputation. This is YOUR fault. Not because you care."

"You know what? Im sick and tired of you and your hunters always slinking around all over the place. You say I dont care. They sleep in TENTS, they dont have ANY contact with the outside world, they cant even DATE for Zeus sake! No boys, no contact, no life! Sure they're immortal but they have never lived. Never in a year of their life. And you say I dont care."

Artemis was furious. Her fists were clenched, eyes narrowed. "My hunters WANT all these things. They dont want any outside contact. They dont care about where they sleep. They dispise boys. They hate them."

"That's not true and you know it! They dont want to offend you! Sure they are fine with the whole no- dating thing at first, but then after the first century or so they cant leave because everyone they ever cared about has gone. There's no turning back. Now they are only surviving, not living. Now they live every day of their life wondering what could have happened. And not just their love life, their family. Their home. Everything is gone. You are just as selfish as I am."

"It was their choice! It wasn't mine! They pledged loyalty to me, not their family." Artemis spat.

"Thats what the Olympians are. Family. We're family wether you like it or not, if you like me or not. How come you get a family and they dont? When did they all join you? 13? 14? Thats not old enough if you ask me. Most of them were probably hormonal teenagers who ran away from home. Their departure was a slap in their parents face, a spur of the moment choice." He pointed a finger in her face. And then there was a vunerable look in her eyes, a childish look, because he was right. He's right. That brought her back. Ares is never right.

"Well, I guess we have the most disfunctional family in the entire galaxy." She said bitterly. And she left.

And he let her go.

He had buisness to finish. Hephestus, look out.

* * *

He smelled it before he saw it. The burning building was literally made out of pure fire. This was the place on Olympus beside his own house that no one went to. Which just made them alone, their similar quality. The stone drakons on black greek marble (?) seemed to stare at him with ruby eyes. There heads followed him as the gates opened.

The house was aflame, the faces of machinery flickered in the ashes, linkes hung randomly across the mansion.

A robot spiders many eyes brood into his. He then skittered into a small hole in the wall and the door opened. And the inside was so terrible that if he hadnt seen so much gore in his days he would have been ouking right there at the doorway. Head high, he went in persuit of his offender.

He didn't have to wait long.

"Ares. Are you looking for someone?" His beard was tangled and shocked as ever, his eyes hard. In one hand there held his spider, the other his walking stick. "I think Aphrodite will be staying here for a while."

"I am no longer after your wife. She was nice for the first few centuries, but after that she just got plain needy. I've found someone else who will put up a good fight," Ares snapped. "Your wife was less then satisfactory."

"Well, then I dont see why you are here at my humble abode other then to woo my wife." The spider scuttered away and the fire god limped over.

"Why else would I be here? What you did to me Hephestus was completely below the belt and you know it! Attach a video camera? You're getting sloppy." Ares mocked.

"Why? Thrill me. What exactly was on that tape to make you go so completely insane were you had to visit me? What could have been so embarrassing where you had to drag your sorry butt out of your bed to go all the way across Olympus to confront me?" Hephestus taunted without mercy.

"You tell me. Do you like Artemis? What could have she done to you that was so horrible that you had to do this to her." This was all coming without thought. 'Did I just say something not about me? I'm getting soft.'

"What the Underworld does Artemis have to do with this?" Hephestus was getting impatiant.

"Did you even watch the tape? Did you know what a mess you caused?"

Suspiciously Hephestus dissapeared into his editing studio and watched his broadcast. He had always respected Artemis and she tolerated him. Now it could be guessed that the friendship was broken.

He came out shocked and Ares just stood with his arms crossed eyebrow raised.

"Now you see how much you messed this up right? Now she won't even talk to me. The gods are forming alliances. There's gonna be a mini war before the last one had finished. The councils gonna meet. Shes gonna be embarrassed and mad at me for the rest of our stupid immortal lives. She's going to become an outcast."

"Look, I'm sorry. What do you want me to do? What did you think coming here was going to do?Sure you yelled at me. I'm sorry for what happened. I think you two are cute. This situation sucks. OK? What do you want me to do?"

"Don't say sorry to me. Say sorry to her. Shes the one who needs the symathy. This has happened too many times for me. Artemis dosnt get made a fool of by ANYONE. You made a fool out of her. You say sorry to HER. Have a terrible day." And with that, the war god left, leaving a stunned Hephestus standing with his mouth agape wondering just what the world was coming to.

This was going to be resolved. And he was going to do anything in his power to help make it go smoothly.


	6. The Temporary Truce

**Thanks to LabyrinthofDarkness, de4m3r (you awesome girl u), Emily, acast, Faximum Ride, Hyperpotterprincess (this chapters for u!), sonofposidon12195 (my new friend), ArtemisFrimm for the reviews and support. ;P**

***

Artemis sat on her bunk, staring at the wall. Just staring. It hit her at that moment that she would never again be allowed to show her face on Olympus. She would be exiled just like the others. She would be like them. Living, but only so. She would become the god of broken promises, the god of mistrust. Although untrue, it seemed like a very likely scenario at the time. Why wouldn't she? She broke her ancient promise to the gods.

All the gods broke their promises. It was inevitable, just as the sun rose each day. Why had this been so sudden though? It's not like she still wasn't pure, she was but it still didn't feel... right that she let a male besides her despicable brother into her life.

Had she? Did she really? They had certainly spent more time together over the past century or so. Their council seats were across from one another so they shared eye contact whenever something infuriated, worried or even excited the both of them. During the solstice they made brief contact at banquets with a "Please pass the rolls" here and a "Cut me a drumstick, will ya?" there but it wasn't like her heart fluttered or anything. Passing a boat of gravy to a war god was anything but romantic. And if it's one thing the goddess of the hunt hated more than romance, it was a distraction. Right now Ares was being a distraction.

And that wouldn't do at all.

But what could she possible do? As the deity puzzled over her problem, she was interrupted at the sudden head appearing at the flap of her pure white tent.

"The goddess of big heads is here to see you milady." It was Thalia with a grin on her face and a bow in her hand. "Should I tell her to scram? You don't look like you're in the mood to talk much," and how true it was. Artemis didn't feel very much like moving, let alone talking to one of her worst enemies.

Artemis brushed her clenched fists over her eyes in a very non-regal manner. This was defiantly not working out to be a very good day for her. Running a hand through her tangled hair in a manner to get it in some kind of order, she sighed. "Send her in."

Thalia raised her eyebrows at her leaders' strange behavior, but obliged nevertheless.

Then there was a blur of pink and a squeal. "Oh my goodness Artemis darling you look absolutely.... uh... darling you look terrible!" Artemis sighed and rolled her eyes at Aphrodite. _'Here we go again!'_

"It's umm... very good to see you Aphrodite. How are you?" Artemis said and gestured to a seat with her left hand to invite Aphrodite to sit down.

"Oh I'm absolutely fantastic darling. Hephaestus has been wonderful to me." she gushed. Then she abruptly said, "Can I give you a makeover?"

Artemis certainly was not expecting this sudden truce. She was utterly speechless. Then she nodded. Then out of nowhere the Goddess of Beauty pulls out an entire makeup kit with at least four levels of different shades and types of makeup. She squealed and sat behind Artemis.

With a practiced hand she took out the braids wound tight to her head gently. "How's sign-up going? Last time I heard from Apollo that a bunch of girls have been pledging themselves to your divine influence."

"Well enough." _'What's she up to?' _And indeed Artemis had a right to be skeptical. It's not every day your enemies show up at your door to do your hair and small talk. Mine certainly don't.

"That's really good," She bobbled her head vigorously, nodding. "Oh my gosh that reminds me of something! You know Demeter?" The Huntress nodded and then instantly regretted it because Aphrodite tugged a little too hard on her hair not anticipating the gesture. "Don't move darling. Anyway, as I was saying, I heard from a little bird," at this she chuckled, hearing her little bit of gossip from an actual little bird. How pathetic. "Well, he said that when he was circling the United Kingdom, he saw Demeter with a zoo keeper! I mean how's that for blackmail material!?!" She smiled brilliantly.

"Well, she is the goddess of the earth. Maybe she liked the zoo keeper because he loves the planet and its creatures." Artemis pointed out.

Aphrodite waved the hand not making complicated twists in her victims head. "Details, details. But really? A ZOO KEEPER?!?"

"I happen to like zoo keepers very much. I enjoy animals greatly."

"As do I. There you go. Your hair is done. Now we get to do MAKEUP! That's my favorite part."

"Really?" Artemis mimicked sarcastically.

"Uh-Huh. Now we start with cover up. Hold still darling I'm trying to find your skin tone." She held up several canisters to Artemis' face while the latter squirmed uncomfortably. This was not something she did very often. The last time she got all made up was about three hundred years ago when she had to go to a royal ball incognito in order to track prey.

"Umm... soo... Aphrodite... soo you and Hephaestus are working to strengthen your relationship?" Artemis said in order to quench the uncomfortable silence.

"Yes. Who've thought it would take this long to sort out our problems. The last day had been the best in all my long years of marriage. I've gotten to really KNOW Hephaestus and his interests. Now I know why he's the fire god." Aphrodite wiggled her eyebrows, while Artemis just sighed.

The cover up was complete and now Aphrodite was rummaging through her bag of makeup to find blush and a correct color eye pencil. Several minutes passed in deep awkward conversation and just as Aphrodite finished applying the last of the eye shadow and mascara, finally finished, Artemis asked, "Why are you doing this for me? I thought you didn't like me for all the times I stole young maidens from you and your love powers."

"Well, we couldn't have you looking like you did before! Now that you finally have a boyfriend you'll need to look your best." So that was what it was all about. A look of lucidity passed the goddesses face before her hard mask fell again. Artemis stood to her full height.

"I don't have a boyfriend," Artemis glared.

"Of course you do Darling. The only part to get all upset about is that it's Ares." Aphrodite was working the innocent face and stood too.

"Look Aphrodite, I don't know why you did this to me, but I cannot permit it. Thank you, I will see you later." Aphrodite had the grace to look affronted. She then packed her makeup case and left the tent, concealing her triumphant grin.

***

"Oh Ares Darling, what a surprise it is to see you here! I could never have expected to run into you on this fine spring morning." Aphrodite, now free of her makeup case burden, had decided to take a walk along the outskirts of Olympus. No doubt she was concocting her latest scheme.

With this remark Ares rolled his eyes and groaned, causing Aphrodite's grin to grow noticeably wider.

"What do you want Aphrodite? I've had a very stressful day and would very much appreciate if you would leave me alone."

"Oh I want nothing. But your new mistress was reduced to tears the last time I saw her. She was absolutely torn up. She said she never wanted to see another living soul as long as she roamed this universe." Just to add to the drama the goddess used hand gestures to exaggerate her story.

"Oh boy. I didn't mean what I said earlier. Oh man, I hope she didn't take it to heart. Thanks Aphrodite." As he turned to leave, he was reminded of something. "Oh yeah your husband wanted to talk to you about something. I think he wanted you to ummm…. Stoke his fire?" He raised an eyebrow, looking for an explanation.

"Oh thanks Ares I guess that's my cue to leave. Oh and are you over me?" She asked hopefully.

Ares rolled his eyes at her vain personality. "Oh I'm so over you. See you later."

And as he ran down the path to the Hunters tents, Aphrodite smiled at his back, pleased with her progress.

***

"You aren't welcomed here." Two menacing looking hunters were guarding the entrance to their little gathering, holding very large sharpened sticks.

Ares scowled. "And why not?"

"We have direct orders from our leader. She is in very serious condition and needs time to calm down," said the second glaring hunter.

"Ohh gee thanks a lot. That really helps me sort this thing out." Ares sighed loudly and put a hand to his eyes, massaging his temple. "What are your names?"

The two hunters (who have been very good friends for eight hundred years) looked at one another in synchronization. They both raised an eyebrow and asked, "Why?" skeptically.

"So I can tell her later about how you two are both doing your job so wonderfully." Came the sarcastic reply.

"I am Sarha," replied the first one with long brown hair and hazel eyes.

"My name is Serhrey." The second one with copper skin said doubtfully.

"Oh well thank you Sarha and Serhey, you've been a real help." With that he turned on his heels and stalked away.

Serhey and Sarha put down their very large sharp pointy sticks and went back to their poker game, oblivious as usual.

But if Ares had listened hard enough he would have heard uncontrollable crying in the distance. Aphrodite had left her mark.

*******

**So what do y'all think? I think it was pretty good. It's almost been a month since I updated! Wow am I lazy. I won't be updating my other stories as often as this one b/c this is getting a ton more attention. Thanks to all who reviewed I love you all! Rock on everyone!!!!!!! Its getting longer and I think that its worth the wait. I am putting a ton of extra stuff in here so it works either way I decide to go. I can go two ways from here.**

**-the council votes to have Artemis removed**

**-the makeup that Aphrodite put on Artemis was like a love potion thingy**

**Or I could do both!**


	7. The Trial

**Wow it's been two weeks already! I wasn't home like two weeks ago and this weekend was Easter so I didn't get on the computer. Sorry! Thanks to Kentucky24, acast, de4m3r, sonofposeidon12195, artemis-roth, lttlblcktty, wisegirlindesguise, son of percy and annabeth, Mrs. Claire M. Lerman (?what?), Primaballarine5683, Me (?me who?), hyperpotterprincess **

**Hope you like it! It's a woppin 6 pages long! Waho!**

***

"What's happening to me?" The slightly insane goddess wailed. Scared out of her wits, she had her head buried between her two arms so the words came out slightly muffled.

"Milady, I don't know what to do! You've never been this way before!" Thalia replied with a panicked tone. Patting her leaders head awkwardly in a motion of comfort only resulted in the crying increasing.

"That's exactly it! I've NEVER been this way before! I've never FELT this way before!" Artemis only raised her tear-stained face long enough to reply, then resumed her fit.

Thalia looked at the ceiling thoughtfully. Then, after a minute or so, she replied slowly.

"Well, I'm not exactly sure what we should do about this dilemma, but first I think we should get that ridiculous makeup off your face." Thalia rose briefly to wet a towel and then returned to apply it to Artemis.

Thalia's ministrations were gentle, but then increasingly grew more intense. Only when the look in her eyes settled to panic did Artemis speak up.

"What's the matter Thalia?" she sniffed as her head hunter continued attacking her face with the wet cloth.

"Well," Thalia stated carefully after a particularly hard jab causing the goddess to wince uncomfortably, "It seems that the makeup that has been applied to your face… well…"

"Yes, Thalia?" Artemis' voice grew stronger, in spite of her emotional imbalance. Frown lines made their appearance between her now perfectly plucked eyebrows and she crossed her arms, glaring menacingly.

Thalia sighed in a resigned way and let the arm holding the towel drop. "The makeup… well the makeup… oh Artemis it won't come off!"

Artemis didn't look surprised, but she did lay a hand over her eyes. "Somehow that doesn't surprise me. After all that I've been through in the past day and a half, If Kronos somehow is standing outside this tent I wouldn't be surprised."

"No, but you're pretty close." The arrival of a new voice caused both Artemis and Thalia to look up. Thalia's eyes brightened noticeably, but who could help but brighten when Apollo the Sun god was in the room.

"Oh, Apollo!" As Moon and Sun embraced, Thalia put away the towel. "Please sit down."

"Ya'know sis, I've never seen you wear makeup and now that I have… please don't ever again! It really doesn't suit you." Artemis graced her twin with a small smile, stating that she heard him. "Seriously sis, what's up? One day you're Miss Anti-Boy and the next you're swapping spit with one! And a War God no less." Apollo chose to sit on an embroidered silk cushion on the floor, his twin pulled up a similar one next to it.

"Oh Apollo, it wasn't like that at all! You don't understand. I… well… ever since this morning it's gotten worse…" Thalia had never seen her leader look so desperate, so child-like. Her usually carefully constructed armor had been dented, leaving her defenseless.

"Well, I think it would be best if you told me what happened this morning, to make you feel worse…" with this he gave a small smile, encouraging her to continue.

"I think it must have been…." Artemis began, but not before her brother interrupted.

"Hey Sweetheart," said Apollo addressing Thalia. Thalia blushed, not used to being talked to in such a way. She responded with a feeble, "Ya?"

"Do'ya mind if you…" Apollo gestured to the tent opening with one hand, cocking his head.

Thalia blushed again for the second time in a minute, understanding and left, but not without a small incline of the head to each of the gods.

"Please continue."

"This morning Aphrodite, well she visited me…" Artemis averted her eyes and muttered, "I should have known…."

"Did she… put the makeup on?" Apollo guessed, cleverly putting two and two together. Artemis nodded and stared at the floor, embarrassed. "What I don't get," Apollo continued, "Is how you let Aphrodite in? I thought you… well, that you weren't friends."

"We are so definitely not friends. It's just, I really wanted to hear what she had to say, her being Ares ex and all. I wanted to give her a chance. It figures that I should pick now to get soft; I can't get the makeup off! I think its messing around with my senses, my emotions, making them resurface over and over. The more I bury them down; the more they seem to advance!" The Moon said bitterly.

"What kind of feelings?" The Sun prodded gently. In an unspoken response, The Moon glanced helplessly at her twin. "Hmm…" The sun stood up with a formality that Artemis never knew existed. He laid a hand on her shoulder, a very brotherly gesture, one that surprised Artemis.

She stood as well. "What should I do? I think that she may have put something in the makeup to make me act like this. I've never been this… interesting." Apollo shrugged, showing his helplessness.

"I don't know what I can do Artemis. I really don't. What I can do is use my awesome powers of foresight to maybe get a glimpse of several possible outcomes of many things you can do." He closed his eyes and his face relaxed. Once in a while the corner of his mouth twitched upward in a smile and Artemis rolled her eyes, only imagining what he was conjuring up in his sick mind.

After a little while (several minutes too many according to Artemis; the wait was agonizing) Apollo opened his eyes. He gave a sympathetic smile and said, "The road ahead is going to be difficult. But if I know you sis, and I have know you for several centuries," His twin chuckled anxiously, waiting for results. "I know that you will stop at nothing to get this evened out. And you will. The worst outcome I thought up was that you'll end up like Calipso, living alone in a desert island in the Pacific. I guess the good part to that is a ton more people will visit you!" Apollo, trying to lighten the mood. His sister just glared pointedly.

"Anyway… in every other possibility, there was around one-hundred, you ended up happy, with or without Ares."

Artemis hugged her brother, something that she hadn't done in a very long time. And as they parted, Apollo said, "Hey don't be a stranger! I never see you! I miss you man!" Artemis gave a weak laugh and as Apollo turned to leave, he suddenly remembered something.

"Oh yeah I almost forgot. You have to promise that you won't shoot the messenger. Promise?" Apollo pouted and Artemis hastily agreed, fearing the worst.

"The Council called a mandatory meeting on your part to discuss your… problem. The session will begin this afternoon." Artemis groaned and began pounding her head ungracefully against a nearby book (An Idiot's Guide to Archery, a gift from Apollo in 200 A. D.). Apollo quickly moved the book from her head and said, "Hey watch it! That books binding is fragile! And you promised."

"I promised I wouldn't hurt you, not me!" Artemis hugged her brother tightly and said, "Hello Calipso…"

***

The room was large, of course, but it didn't really seem that intimidating until you were the one being intimidated. Instead of creating someone else's fate, she was the one whose fate would be decided and she determined that she didn't like it. Not one bit.

Donned in her usual menacing warrior costume, she preferred to look her best. The makeup had proven impossible to be ridden of, so it was still plastered on her face. In the twelve seats around sat her eleven friends (do gods have friends?) all looking at her, some more curiously then others. Probably wondering about her new 'look'.

"We are gathered here today for the trial of Artemis, the Moon goddess, the goddess of the Hunt , the patron of purity. She is accused of breaking her ancient promise to the gods by interfering herself with a man. What do you have to say for yourself, my daughter?" Zeus stared at her expectantly, his stormy gray eyes blazing with must have been shame.

"Father, I never swore upon the River Styx. Furthermore, I have not interfered myself with anyone. It was merely a peck. Many women kiss men and aren't involved with them." She glanced over at Ares, who had a hand on his chin, a leg resting on the armrest, thrown haphazardly across. He looked sincerely hurt for a moment, and then a mask of indifference settled upon his face once more.

"Yes, but it was a promise nevertheless. And you broke it." Aphrodite added gleefully, looking all too pleased with herself. Probably because of the obvious fact that her handiwork was strewn across Artemis' face.

"Well, she didn't get any further. As far as we know, she's still the goddess of purity, is that not correct?" Hermes added, the sleep lines on his face ever so noticeable.

"Yes, that is true." Artemis confirmed.

"She speaks the truth." Hera, the goddess of family added. She has the power to know that kind of thing. Like a mother would.

"What say you, Ares?" Hephaestus grumbled.

Ares looked up, left eyebrow raised. "I say that she's innocent on all accounts."

"Hear, hear!" Apollo added with a wink in Artemis' direction.

"I say she was at wrong for breaking her vow, but as do we all. Although, it would be unwise to let her go unpunished." Athena added.

"Why should she? She has done nothing. I say its Ares fault for encouraging her!" Poseidon said with amusement. There were more important things to attend to then this.

"MY fault? Mine? You dare accuse me of this! She wanted it! I gave her every chance to back out, you can see it on the tapes!" Ares bit back, enraged.

Dionysus added lazily, "I don't care particularly."

"Who asked you?!?" Ares shouted.

"Ladies! This is a discussion!" Zeus roared, and all the time Artemis just sat there, watching the ping pong match play out before her, watch the gods pick sides against her…

"I agree with Athena." Demeter stated slowly. Artemis glared at her because they had always got along fairly well, her being the goddess of the earth and all. Demeter shrugged, embarrassed.

"So what are we deciding here? That she should be…as the kids say now…. Grounded?" Dionysus suggested.

"What is she, five? Try five billion! She doesn't need to be sent to her room with no supper like a little kid!" Ares protested and Artemis felt a surge of gratitude, something she would never have admitted if the makeup didn't mess things up.

"I assure you Ares, your girlfriend won't be treated like a child!" Zeus fumed, arising a blush out of both Artemis and Ares, silencing the latter.

"Do you have nothing to say for yourself, my dear?" Aphrodite taunted.

"There is nothing for me to say." Artemis returned coolly.

"Is there some sort of punishment in order then?" Zeus asked with power.

"I hear that Persephone wants company down in the Underworld. I hear it gets quite lonely." Demeter suggested.

"He wouldn't be in his right mind to send her down there!" Hermes exclaimed.

"Hephaestus could use some help in his forges, couldn't you dear?" Aphrodite said, batting her eyelashes at Zeus. Zeus, who had come quite immune to her flirtatious ways said in reply to her, "No that is where Ares will be going."

"What!" Ares exclaimed, exasperated.

"Yes that's right. My son, you must take responsibility for your actions. This is part your fault too, darling." Hera scolded.

"Fine….better then the Underworld…." Ares grumbled. He slumped in his seat, defeated at the hand of his mother.

"How about she goes to Camp Half Blood?" Dionysus said, twirling a lazy finger around a grape vine at the end of his seat. "Chiron and I could use some more help. The horse is getting real sick of me."

Zeus raised his eyebrow, interested. He mulled over the thought for a moment or two and then announced, "Ares, my son, you will be sentenced to a summers work at Hephaestus' forges. Artemis, my daughter, for the same duration of time you will be sent to Camp Half Blood to teach Archery classes and assist Dionysus in any way you can."

"Excuse me father, but what of my Hunters?" Artemis spoke up.

"My daughter Thalia is the second in command, correct?"

"Yes, that is true." Artemis confirmed.

"Then she will wisely guide the other Hunters through their tasks which you will give them once weekly. Does that sound like a plan?" Zeus rumbled. Artemis nodded reluctantly.

"All in favor?" Almost all raised their hand except for Aphrodite and Ares, who was looking around innocently, like he hadn't heard anything.

"Ares?" Zeus threatened. Ares raised two fingers half- heartedly.

"Ares' punishment. All in favor?" He thundered. All raised their hands this time, except for Artemis because she wasn't sure if she was included in the vote.

"Hey dad, how come she only gets a summer and I get a century?" Dionysus asked, now sticking his finger in and out of his belly button, because it bounced.

"Because she didn't cheat on her partner!" Zeus confirmed.

"Meeting adjourned!" And so it was.

***

**Love it, hate it… don't review and ill never know!!!!! Haha… I never thought of Camp HB until I was writing this chapter and I was like what the heck! So lets do this thing!!!!!**

**If you have any suggestions feel free to PM me or review!!!!**

**POTS (isn't that so cool? It's the initials for princessofthescoundrels!!!!)**


	8. The Followup

**Thanks to queenofthescoundrels (when I first read the review I was like, 'mom?' cause it sounded like something my mom would do… I had a good laugh about that one!), whosaidicare, lttlblckitty, zoenightshade2214, beau peu phenomeme, myalovli (please stop advertising; it's really quite rude- tho good story), the son of percy and Annabeth, primaballerina5683, de4m3r (rock on cyber friend!) and hyperpotterprincess (my real life bffl)**

**This is a filler chapter. The next chapter will begin the next summer!!!**

***

Percy Jackson was sitting on a rock on Zeus' Fist staring out into the unknown. Something was obviously troubling him, the way his eyes were looking but not at all seeing. You see, Percy Jackson isn't normal. Who is? But he is a different kind of normal. He's the deadly kind.

What makes Percy so different is that he's a demigod, his father being Poseidon, god of the Sea. He's a teenage boy of sixteen with black hair and sea green eyes. When he reached his sixteenth birthday he was destined to fulfill a great prophecy that predicted the rise or fall of Olympus. That had just happened that very summer. But now summer was over and his worries should have all gone away.

But what fun would that have been?

You see, he started dreaming again the very night of the final war. Not normal dreams filled with girls and cars like every other teenage boy does, but demigod dreams. These are the worse kind, usually filled with someone's doom, particularly your own. It's true that they weren't of its usual magnitude where he woke up screaming, but he could tell that things, once again were not all right up in Mount Olympus as they should have been.

He awoke out of his temporary trance, startled by a new and softer voice. He smiled, because he knew that she had gotten his message. When he left a day ago, he knew it wouldn't last that long; it never does. He just hoped that maybe this time it would be different, that he could maybe have a non- exciting year.

It wasn't in his destiny, he supposed.

"Hi Annabeth, got my message?" He stood at the entrance of his girlfriend. 'Girlfriend. Wow, I thought I would never be able to say that!' Percy thought, rolling his eyes and embracing his best friend.

Annabeth went totally against the dumb blonde stereo type. Being the daughter of Athena, the wisdom goddess, one would think so. Her stunning gray eyes brood into his soul, nervous.

"Considering that I'm here, I would say so. Now, how are you?" Annabeth broke the hug and chose a rather flat rock as a seat, patting the space next to her invitingly.

"What no 'I'm so happy to see you' or anything?" Percy pouted, causing Annabeth to smile tightly. He sat and began. "I don't know. It's not as bad as when Kronos was at large, but I can tell something's not right at Olympus again."

Annabeth put both her hands on his and said, "Well, do you want to talk to Chiron?"

"I was planning on it," Percy explained squeezing her hands. "I wanted to see you first."

She rolled her eyes and said exasperatingly, "Percy, it's been a day and a half."

"I know, I just like to see you get mad. I suppose I could have just Irised Chiron but I wanted to talk to him in person."

"What do you want me to do?" asked Annabeth, standing.

"Stand there and look intimidating, possibly adding suggestions whenever necessary," shrugged Percy, also standing. In response to his foolishness, she began the decent down the hill without him at a rapid pace.

Well, what did you expect?

***

"Percy, my boy!" Chiron the centaur exclaimed, clapping him on the shoulder like a proud father. "What are you doing back here in the boring Camp Half Blood?"

Percy laughed and hugged his torso fondly. "And you brought Annabeth along? How…. Cute." The centaur smirked and gestured them a seat. Annabeth sat, but Percy chose to stand behind her chair.

"Chiron, the reason for which I am here are most unsettling. I've been having dreams again and I sense that there is an unsettlement on Olympus."

Chiron's upper half bent forward questionably. "What sort of unsettlement?"

"Oh I don't know. Not really bad, but I can tell that the gods are upset about something. Someone's um… broken promise?" At this, realization dawned on the old centaur's face and he laughed.

"Nothing to worry about indeed! Trust me Percy, something very exciting is occurring this summer and I want you and Annabeth promise not to tell anybody. Or else I might have to sent Dionysus on you." He wagged a finger in mock seriousness.

Percy cocked an eyebrow, obviously confused. But Annabeth spoke first. "Yes we promise, right Percy?" She nudged her boyfriend in the ribs and he squeaked out a "Yep."

Chiron chucked at this little exchange. "Well there has been a… as you say broken promise… and the one in question is sentenced to a summer to you little hoolagins." He said with a mysterious twinkle in his eye.

"Who, Chiron?" Annabeth enquired. "Who's coming? Apollo? Aphrodite?"

Chiron chucked again at a uncovered truth. "You were close with Aphrodite… and in a way… Apollo too." At this, Annabeth but a hand to her mouth in disbelief.

"Oh no nothing like that," Chiron recovered quickly. "But along the general idea. Artemis and Ares."

At this both Percy's and Annabeth's mouths dropped comically. With Annabeth still gaping Percy inquired, "You mean… Artemis actually got _involved_ with a _man_? Artemis? And with Ares? Which one's coming?" He added the last part hurriedly, fearing the worse. You see, Ares and Percy didn't get along very well because of a little spat they had several years earlier.

"Artemis. I know its unbelieving, most of the Olympians wouldn't have believed it either if not for the tape…" Chiron ended, leaving the sentence open ended and annoyingly incomplete.

"What tape?" questioned Percy slowly.

"Hephaestus wanted to get back at Ares for all the times he… uh… went… with his wife. He bugged his jacket and he… uh… caught them in a rather intimate position." And with this, even though Percy thought impossible, Annabeth's jaw dropped even lower by great comparison. It couldn't have gotten any lower if Percy decided to tell her that Kronos was back and raring to go.

Then she quickly recovered herself. Impatiently brushing a stray blonde hair from her face she quipped, "Well, it must not have been too bad if she only got a summers worth. Were Ares and Aphrodite over?"

"So it would seem. They now have created a rather difficult triangle around themselves, Artemis, Ares and Aphrodite. It seems that Aphrodite is regretting breaking it off with the war god." Chiron gossiped, a trait unlike himself.

He thought with an amused look on his face. "Aphrodite returned to her husband afterwards but I highly doubt that she won't do something about this situation, if she hasn't already. She's very attached to her prey; she won't let Ares go easily. She's going to be prepared to go down with a fight. This is going to be quite an interesting summer.

Percy couldn't have agreed more.

***

"So what do you make of this?" Percy asked of Annabeth as they left the Big House, hand in hand. Apollo's sun chariot was so bright this morning, it seemed to be waving a cheerful hello at them. It reflected of the water and the trees seemed to glow, giving this day a fantastic illusion of being perfect. As they walked near the surface of the water, Annabeth puzzled.

"I really don't know. Artemis seemed really adamant that she didn't like men the last time we met. It really doesn't seem like her to be all flirty with a guy all of a sudden." They walked along in a comfortable silence, but then Percy thought of something and stopped.

"Ya' know Annabeth. We seem to be getting along a lot better nowadays." He grinned.

"Gee, I wonder why," was Annabeth's sarcastic reply. Percy laughed and leaned in.

"Hey Percy!" Percy sighed exasperatedly. Who could it be this time?

"Hey look Percy, it's Grover!" pointed Annabeth excitedly.

And so it was. Grover the satyr ran to the couple, dragging his own girlfriend along for the ride.

When Grover and Juniper the tree nymph caught up to them, they were both panting heavily as though they had been running for miles. Grover was Percy's very best friend even before Percy had gotten to Camp Half Blood, although at that time he hadn't know that he was a satyr.

"I heard you guys were back… pant pant… and I couldn't find you… pant pant… d'ja hear… pant… about next summer?" Grover's hands were now on his knees and he was breathing heavily. Juniper had put herself together a little more gracefully; she was still standing up clutching a stitch in her side.

Percy grinned again at his friend's behavior. It was a typical Grover to act this way. "Yeah we heard. Kind of exciting, isn't it?"

By this time Grover had fully composed himself and was breathing normally once again. "Oh yes! I can't wait I mean… its _Artemis!_" Juniper, who was recently smiling, now was glaring at her boyfriend back. A pause and then… whack! She struck his shoulder… hard.

"Oh man, I suppose I deserved that one." He groaned, clutching his shoulder. "But I still can't believe it. She's so into nature, and he's so… opposed to nature. What does she see in that guy?" He snarled, growling at the ground.

"Well, maybe she sees the good in him." Juniper pointed out, raising an eyebrow. "You know, 'Don't judge a book by its cover?'"

"Yes, that must be it," Annabeth admitted. Then seeing the look on Percy's face she hurriedly added, "Well, whatever good there is, I don't see it. But that doesn't mean it's not there, you know."

Percy's shoulders slumped. "I suppose you're right. I still don't have to like him."

"I certainly don't," Grover stated with finality. Both girls rolled their eyes in a mixture of disgust and amusement at their infuriated boyfriends.

Annabeth waited until both boys had calmed down and began, "You know, it really doesn't concern us. All I'm positively sure of is that it's going to be a very interesting summer for all of us. And it doesn't matter wither we like Ares or not, the fact is we are going to have a fun time. Right guys?" She menacingly stared all around there circle until the boys had mumbled a half hearted 'yes'.

"That's better."

***

**Well, I'm sorry for the shortness of this chapter, it's still very long compared to my other ones. Yep, thanks and please review!**


	9. The Arrival

**WELCOME TO CAMP HALF BLOOD!!!! BUM BUM BUMMMM!!!! No applause, please. Well, thanks to you guys; I would have never gotten this far without you. Thanks.**

**Disclaimer (I keep forgetting to do these): I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Riptide or a million dollars (darn)**

**Thanks to ZoeNightshade2214 (sorry ****), artemis-roth (yeah… problems!!!!!), WhoSaidICared(btw I still love yr name), andy (tnx dude), PrimaBallerina5683 (haha thanks… I uh… wuv u 2? *awkward pause*haha tnx for constantly reviewing), dre4m3r (lol keep writing ur a great cyber friend ****), lulu (thank you!!!), hyperpotterprincess( write something soon, I know where you live), EnchoraNight (tnx, I love cows!), acast (lv ya!), RWBRyan (nice name!) and Thread of the Maze (once again, nice name!)**

**SonofPoseidon where r u? haha…**

**Soo hope you like it… it's 6 pages long!!! Waho!**

***

The day was dark one, despite her brothers' obvious attempts at a sunny morning. But the blue sky, shining sun and twittering birds seemed to mock her. She should be hunting, not preparing to go to a stupid camp, filled with _boys._ 'I suppose I could do some recruiting' Artemis thought gloomily to herself as she packed her knapsack.

The past year had been rather uneventful. There was the occasional rebellious demon that survived the previous summer's ordeal. But they hadn't been a problem for her hunters and herself.

There had been changes though. Minor gods that usually ignored her were now snickering at her turned back as she stormed Mount Olympus on hunting breaks. She became much more irritable, even with her hunters. She managed to bring several of her fearless warriors to tears on particularly bad days. Another change was her makeup.

Although she was unable to get the heavier stuff off, on one of those bad days she just lost it. In a rage of blinding fury she confronted Aphrodite and yelled at her until she complied to put a lighter layer on. So instead of having heavy lipstick, dark eyes and an excessive amount of blush, she had lip-gloss, lilac eye shadow and just a light touch of blush. It still made her mad that she had to wear this foolish, artificial stuff but Aphrodite was just as stubborn as she. In fact, Artemis only got her lighter shade when she approached the goddess with an arrow pointed menacingly at her throat. Only then did Aphrodite relent.

But it was fine, people didn't laugh as much anymore. Not that she cared. But no matter, they would soon forget, they always did. What made her mad is how every time Zeus makes a mistake he doesn't get punished, wasn't she just as intimidating? Even more so, she believed.

Although she would never ever say that out loud. The last person who did that ended up being eternally dunked in pudding. Rice pudding no less. Even her father glanced at her reproachfully when she passed, like she failed a major exam.

It's not like she wasn't absolutely furious with herself, she certainly was, and it's just that she didn't have any regrets. Artemis could yell and curse at the Fates all she wanted but she trusted their judgment. She knew that everything happened for a reason.

Sighing, she finished. 'No more procrastinating' she scolded herself. 'The faster you get there, the faster you can return. Maybe someone will take pity on me.' Although she doubted this.

'I suppose the bright side is that I don't have to work in the forges! Poor Ares, I would hate to work there.' She then sighed again. She started to get used to the makeup's' strange side effects, even if she didn't like them at all. Her allies (Apollo, Hermes even Hephaestus) approached Aphrodite in order to get the information as to what it does out of her. She never gave way. Every time one of them tried, they all came back with the same thing, "She gets this weird twinkle in her eye and says 'She'll know very soon what it does…' then goes back to whatever she's doing."

As Artemis strutted down the path regally, head held high, she avoided the other gods' apologetic gazes. She even avoided Ares', on his way to Hephaestus' forges.

But that didn't work for him at all.

"Artemis." He stopped her. "Why have you been avoiding me?"

'Like you don't know' and stifled an eye roll. Instead she chose to say, "I've been very busy and haven't had time to converse with anybody."

This time it was Ares' turn to hold back on the eye roll. "I know you. You've been a hermit all year, only talking to your hunters and brother."

"I've been busy." Artemis repeated, holding his gaze.

Ares snorted. "Sure and I'm Hera. You don't like me because I put you through this position. And I'm really s-so-." He attempted. "I'm sorry." That was like sticking one of Apollo's sacred cows down his throat whole, according to Ares.

Artemis knew that. "Well, thank you but I really must be going." And as she turned and resumed her hurried pace down the graveled pathway he thought. And he shouted as a last resort, "Good luck. Only a very strong person could handle all those kids."

And he turned and left. And she let him go.

Again.

***

"Oh man sis, I promise to visit you over the summer. My little tykes need a little visiting as well. Brush your teeth; get to bed early and all that," Apollo mock-scolded waving a perfect finger her way. He helped her into her chariot holding only Artemis and Thalia, golden blonde hair shining slightly. Apollo had brought along one of his children and told them to drop him off at noon to see his sister off. So far, he was doing fairly well. At least no one had burned to death. "Oh and remember, keep to the clouds. We won't want the mortal kids thinking of a real Christmas in July."

Artemis gave a little shaky laugh. She wasn't nervous, just weird. She had never been punished by the gods. It felt really strange starting now. And she certainly wasn't going to make a habit out of it.

Her chariot was silver and was most children thought of as Santa Claus' sled. It had very ornate carvings and when in the sky at night it looked like a streak of solid moonlight in the sky. She had never brought it out in the daytime and was interested in how it looked. It would be kind of weird to see the moon shoot across the sky in the middle of the day.

The plan was for Artemis and Thalia to ride to Camp in the chariot, Thalia would stay for a while to converse with her friends, then she would fly it back to Mount Olympus. Thalia was apprehensive because she had never flown the craft before and was nervous (not to mention her fear of heights. She had never mentioned this to Artemis, so not to get her even more jittery).

Slightly sweating, Thalia grabbed the reins. Apollo winked at her and stepped out of the way. With a sharp jab of the reins, they were off. As soon as the mountain that was Olympus faded into the distance, Artemis shut her eyes, preparing for a rest. After all, it was going to be a very long day.

Thalia smiled thinly, still very nervous, but then suddenly gave a yelp and tilted the chariot back above the clouds. 'Without my fear of heights, this would be a beautiful sight. All of the fluffy clouds and the contrasting blue separating space and the atmosphere. Too bad Percy can never see it.' Thalia thought in deep concentration. 'It's a good thing that the deer knows where it's going, or I would be completely lost.'

This was going to be a very long day.

***

'Please Please Please let me make it…. Let me make it… c'mon I can do this! I can do it.' Thalia thought repeatedly as the decent to Camp Half Blood was approaching steadily. "C'mon…" she muttered as the time finally came. Many half bloods who were outside, on the archery field or otherwise were gesturing wildly and shouting words of encouragement.

"Thalia you can do it!"

"C'mon Thalia!"

"Thalia, make us proud!"

Unbeknownst to them, this only made her feel even more self conscience. The time had finally come. She took a deep breath and plunged.

She made it! Artemis, now fully awake and alert smiled.

Beaming, Thalia touched the ground with relief and went to talk to her now arriving supporters.

"That was awesome Thalia!"

"Did you SEE that? That was amazing!"

"Beautiful! Absolutely beautiful Thalia!"

The warriors' cheeks were red with a pleased embarrassment; a ridiculously large smile covered her face. Brushing back a piece of black hair importantly she said, "Oh it was nothing guys… really… nothing…" But it was useless; her face glowed in addition to Artemis' blessing.

"Eh, I've seen better." Clarisse made her grand entrance. Clarisse, daughter of Ares was a largely built girl with long brown hair and her father's blazing eyes and rippling muscles. Behind her stood Chris Rodriguez, who was a Son of Hermes and Clarisse's boyfriend. He grinned Thalia's way, and then waited for his girlfriend to initiate.

Clarisse stood, glaring with her hands on her hips for several moments, then grinned to one side and stepped forward to give Thalia a sort of bump- hug. They had come to a truce sort of, because Thalia's aggressive fighting skill.

She then moved aside to show Percy and Annabeth, arms linked and smiling friendly. A year older now, Percy was now a whole two inches taller than Annabeth and a ton more confident. That would happen to you if you took on a titan lord.

Annabeth hugged her friend first, then Percy came and high fived her over Annabeth's shoulder. They then separated and the Half Bloods finally noticed Artemis leaving gracefully from her silver chariot. They then all bowed in unison, including Percy and Thalia. Artemis assumed a regal smile and said, "You may rise." And so they did.

"Thalia, if you so wish, you may leave with your friends…?" she questioned.

Thalia bowed and grinned yet again. "Yes Lady Artemis, I do so wish to. If you need my assistance I will be by the Mess Hall." They turned to leave.

"Percy?" Artemis questioned before he left.

"Yes?" he raised an eyebrow, his hand left the small of Annabeth's back where it had been resting earlier.

"May it be at all possible to speak with you at this present time?" Percy nodded and followed the goddess to the outskirts of the forest, ignoring all the campers questioning glances.

"Percy, how are you?" this question deeply startled him and it took him several moments to recover.

"Uhh… fine milady… uhh how are you?" At this Artemis laughed a long ringing laugh that barely ever escaped her lips, much less this past year.

"I'm doing well, considering the circumstances." Percy nodded sympathetically and she continued. "I did not call you over here for small talk, though. I wanted to tell you two things. First, your father says hi and knows how much you've been worrying over the past year about other siblings. He has no other new children." Percy breathed out a sarcastic sigh of relief, causing Artemis to send a amused face his way.

"The second thing, it may not seem important, but how much do the campers know about why I am here?" This question also startled him; he expected another crisis and couldn't help breath another sigh of relief. Although this particular sigh one was not sarcastic in the slightest.

"Well, Chiron said that if you didn't feel the need to tell them, they wouldn't know. They are in the clueless right now. They all have no idea except for a significant few of us; Annabeth, Grover, all the tree nymphs and naiads and myself. Oh, and Dionysus and Chiron, of course." He added as an after statement. Artemis could see how much he had grown over the past year, for a great deal had been lifted off his shoulders and now he could relax and show the world the real Percy Jackson.

'It must be nice not to have anything to worry about,' thought Artemis dryly. She then said to Percy, "Well, I suppose that's good. I have some things to take care of before the sing-along. Catch up with the camp leaders and such. Enjoy yourself Percy, and take care of Thalia, make sure she doesn't have too much soda? She's driving, of course."

Percy was happy to find a goddess with a sense of humor, even a dry one. It must have been a nerve wracking year for her, but he was glad to see that some worry lines had indeed disappeared in the Titan Lord's absence.

Percy grinned again, slightly inclined his head. He turned away, only to hesitate. "Ma'am?"

"Yes?"

"You look great as a sixteen year old," he complimented seriously.

"Thank you, you don't look nearly as bad as you did last year, either," she shot coolly, smirking. Percy laughed and nodded again, leaving Artemis alone with her thoughts.

She leaned against the tree, enjoying the cool breeze across her face. Then she tensed, and only after several thousand years of hunting could a person hear that low of a sound. It was a snapping of a twig, about thirty yards away in the forest. She reached for her bow, turning…

Then she smiled sarcastically. It was of course, the satyrs. They never knew when to give up. She mentally cursed herself for not anticipating their arrival; she knew they would be here to greet her.

"Good evening, my good satyrs, is it not a fine afternoon?" Artemis stepped diplomatically to them, arms outstretched, welcoming. All the satyrs, one by one, bowed and kissed the hem of her white commando outfit.

Bemused she turned to Grover. "So, I hear you're the new Head satyr? The big cheese?" Grover nodded apprehensively as though she was going to smack him if he got the answer wrong. She smiled warmly.

"How has the wild been holding up?" she asked.

"Well…" he began nervously then attained confidence and continued as the other satyrs gazed up admiringly at him. "The humans are beginning to take the hint. More and more households are converting to energy efficient light bulbs and recycling. They are planting more trees looking for new ways to preserve energy." Artemis knew all this already but she still beamed all around.

"Good job, and keep up the good work. I must now speak to Chiron and Dionysus at the Big House. Can one of you fine satyrs lead me to the establishment?" Grover trotted up next to her, bowed and said,

"After you m'lady." She passed him and almost laughed at all the jealous faces of the satyrs. The walk to the Big House was spent in silence, as all words had already been spoken for. It was not uncomfortable, just silent. At the arrival of the porch, Artemis said goodbye to Grover and headed on inside.

"Ahhh… Artemis! What a pleasure… what a pleasure." Chiron greeted Artemis enthusiastically, as Mr. D did what was expected of him; he waved two fingers in her direction and studied his next chess move. "My dear, please sit down."

Artemis chose a seat relatively close to the hearty fire burning in the hearth. She waved at it and saw Hestia energetically wave back and then disappear; probably to Olympus, confirming her safe arrival. Choosing a comfortable position in the high backed chair she glanced Chiron's way, expecting conversation.

"So how has the Hunt been going?" he began kindly.

"Not too well this year. Ever since the war ladies are becoming less and less interested in risking their lives." Chiron nodded understandably.

He then leaned forward, "So how have you been, yourself?"

She sighed. "Ahh, you know how it is. I can't wait for things to go back to the way they were. It's getting annoying with all the dirty looks behind my back. Sometimes I wish I could just shove an arrow down their throats, if not just to stop all the gossip." She rubbed a hand across her forehead. "But whatever right? I'm going to try my hardest to keep my temper around the children, I promise on the River Styx. I know that if I do act upon my desire I'll not only get a dead demigod but another godly enemy."

Chiron chuckled a little bit at this. He then pondered for a moment and said, "If you need help with anything… any advice or otherwise… don't be afraid to speak up." She was sure that he was speaking of her little love problem and laughed it off.

"I will. Thank you Chiron, you have always been very nice to me, despite my grouchiness."

"Yes, yes, he's the best. Let's get to dinner, shall we?" Dionysus finally spoke, standing and stretching.

***

"And we are proud to welcome Artemis! She will be staying here with us, teaching Archery classes," at this announcement by Chiron, several Apollo demigods looked very disappointed, "until the end of the summer. So to friends, family, gods and Artemis, we toast!" And all campers raised their glasses in unison and drunk. "To the camp fire!"

And the rest of the night was uneventful, the flames of the campfire looked several miles high and threatened to touch the atmosphere. Artemis settled down in cabin eight (her own cabin) and slept soundly, awaiting the next days' hectic festivities.

***

**Sooo how did you guys like it? Love it hate it? Don't care? Whatever, if you don't review I'll never know!**

**If you have any suggestions on how the next chapter should go, don't hesitate to ask!**


	10. The New Beginning

**Hey!!! Thanks to all who reviewed the last chapter!!! I can't do the whole line of thank you's because I have to go to bed and I just wanted to update for you. So maybe next chapter. For all you romance lovers… I find it awkward to write romance (b/c people I know read this stuff…) but I will have more. I'm thinking something when Ares and Apollo visit.**

**CONGRADULATIONS TO ME!!!! I HAVE MADE IT TO THE TENTH CHAPTER!!!! YESSSS!!!! Keep on reading and I'll keep on writing.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians, the Holy Grail and I still don't own Mutt Williams! Darn.**

*** (Break)

Artemis was up before she needed to be, as always. It was the job of a warrior to be ready for her soldiers. Today was the day, the day she would teach archery to children, boys no less. 'But,' she figured as she dressed, 'These children have seen much more than most. They might be eager to learn. I'm looking forward to the Apollo kids, at least.' As a last minute action before heading down to breakfast, she attempted once more, to wipe the makeup off of her face to no avail.

Sighing, she began on her way. The day was beautiful, as it always was at Camp Half Blood. She could see that the outside world was drizzling from too much sun the past few spring weeks. But it was now summer, and what better way to start it off then a nice batch of rain.

The naiads were looking particularly beautiful today, as they now had better competition. Artemis rolled her eyes at the gossiping water spirits and continued on her way. What she was worried about now was being ambushed by a bunch of love struck satyrs. "If only they would get the hint…" she muttered to herself as she was approached by none other than Grover.

"How did you sleep milady? Was everything to your liking?" Grover inquired anxiously.

"Yes, but I could have done without the group of satyrs serenading me in the middle of the night. As leader, I would have expected you to restrain your subjects more carefully," a bemused Artemis replied. "And the one that was chucking rocks at my window quoting Shakespeare must be locked up somewhere. There is no excuse for telling a goddess she has nice… well, just tell him off. That was rude and very inappropriate."

"Yes, milady. It shall be done as you wish," a slightly crestfallen Grover said. Then a tree nymph appeared from out of the woods rubbing her green eyes tiredly. Catching Grover by the goddess she turned a lovely shade of red- purple and yelled at him from across the water.

"You have no business being near her!" and "Grover, when will you learn some manners!" also "Don't you dare pull a Woods!" Artemis smiled slyly and told Grover that if he wanted to be a single man then he should keep on talking.

"Ahh, no. I don't think I would like that very much, no. Hey Juniper, wait up! I can explain! I was being a good host!" and then the satyr ran after his girl who had once more disappeared into the brush.

Relieved, the goddess kept on walking. She was close to the eating area (oh so very close) when the Ares cabin came running to her. Artemis couldn't catch their expressions so it was undetermined whether they were angry or happy or whatever. That was not a good thing.

Clarisse, being their ring leader, spoke up first. "So, it seems you're working here now, are you." It was not a question, but a statement and Artemis was slightly amused that a group of demigods would dare speak to her in such a manner. A credit to their father, she supposed.

"Yes, I suppose I am," she coolly replied. Secretly, she wondered where this conversation was going. Artemis doubted whether Ares would be happy if she accidentally maimed one of his children from a short temper early in the morning.

"Well, we were wondering," Clarisse began slowly, taking her time while the goddess waited impatiently. The girl sensed her annoyance and grinned, a similar one to her father. "We were wondering, why you're here. I mean there must be a better reason for sending a god here then kissing someone." She grinned again and her siblings behind Clarisse laughed in synchronization.

"Well, if there is a reason besides that, I was caught unawares. If my father had a greater intention then he hid it from me. I am not able to read minds, and my father's head is as thick as Dionysus' stomach." The Ares cabin laughed again, telling her they approved of her dry sense of humor.

"We now see why our dad likes you so much. He talks about 'cha all the time, man. Whenever we see him it's non stop you. It gets super annoying." Clarisse rolled her eyes for emphasis. Artemis raised an eyebrow.

"Is that so? How do I know you're not lying to me?" Artemis grinned, liking these children.

"Well, I guess you're just gonna havf'ta trust us." The cabin split in half making a path for her into the open caf.

'Well, I suppose picking favorites is out of the question. But if I were playing capture the flag, those kids would be on my team.' Artemis thought to herself as she sat at the employee table, awaiting the others.

She did not have to wait long. It seemed that the other campers were just as excited to start their morning meal. As the demigods filed in and sat in their semi- assigned seats, Chiron and Dionysus came in and joined her at the table. They gave her a nod in greeting and asked their plate for food and their cups for drink. Catching on, Artemis did likewise.

She decided that camp food wasn't so bad.

"So my dear, how you sleep?" Chiron struck conversation politely.

"Fairly well, thank you. Could it be at all possible, Dionysus, to inform your satyrs that it is exceedingly inappropriate for a minor to address a pure goddess' butt as 'lubricant?'" Dionysus sniggered but obliged.

Returning to her breakfast (toast with eggs, sunny side up!) she picked at it unenthusiastically. Deities didn't need to eat, they chose to because it made them happy. Really, gods couldn't get fat since they chose what they wanted to look like. Because of this, Artemis wondered why Dionysus continued to burden himself with unneeded weight. She supposed it was to give his kids self confidence and morality.

"Lady, you will be instructing the Hermes cabin first thing this morning, if that is alright with you?" Chiron chided, looking at her.

"That will be wonderful. Start the first morning with a batch of troublemakers. Oh the joy!" Artemis was very good with her sarcasm. She looked over at the Hermes cabin in which a sixteen year old boy was shoving a French Fry up another kids nose. "I can't wait."

She bit into the last of her toast and stood up. "Now if you'll excuse me, I will scout the perimeter."

As the paranoid goddess walked away (and a couple of nearby satyrs swooned simultaneously) Dionysus leaned toward Chiron and whispered, "Is she going to be a pain in the neck the entire summer?"

"Do you remember your first summer?" Chiron asked and Dionysus nodded. "Then that's exactly what she's going to be like."

Dionysus groaned and slapped his face with his hand. This was going to be a very long summer indeed.

*** (Break)

"Allright, I want you guys to know that even though I am a goddess capable of doing unthinkable damage to you if you piss me off, I am your friend. Ok maybe not your friend but a very good acquaintance," Artemis stood before them like a drill sergeant as the Hermes cabin sniggered. "Who has done archery before this summer?" A few little children raised their hands tentatively. "Don't worry, with myself and the rest of your cabin to help you, we're going to have a very interesting summer."

"Pick up a bow from the crate that you feel comfortable with and let's begin." There was a commotion as the entire cabin ran to get their hands on a bow first, the littlest ones most eager. After a couple of stink pellets, a firecracker and a mini brawl later, Artemis finally had all of the bows distributed.

"Do you all know how to hold a bow?" she inquired and an older member of camp raised his hand.

"Permission to speak, sir?" Artemis scowled at his nerve. "Are you insulting our intelligence?"

"No, I'm insulting your capability to listen to direction. Do you all know how to hold a bow?" Artemis repeated. Some of the smarter kids nodded their heads while the new ones shook them. The more rebellious ones refused to give her an answer.

"I think that maybe the older ones might know how to hold a bow. We were in war last year," another child pointed out, this time a girl.

"As was I," Artemis said coolly. "I'm testing to see if you can answer a simple question. Judging by the fact that I didn't get an reply from a select few, I would assume that they didn't know how, in fact, to hold a bow. Let's see now… you… you… you and you, stand over there. Yes, the ones who answered my question. You will be aiming for those targets located on the far part of the arena. The ones who don't know how will stay with me."

This was embarrassing for the older campers because they were stuck with the new kids. They didn't dare anger the goddess further (they wanted to keep all their limbs, thank you very much) so they scowled and stayed were they were as Artemis went through the many techniques of holding a bow properly.

They had done this already. This lady had to go.

*** (Break)

"Good job! You're doing great… er… you're actually supposed to put the arrow in the other way… otherwise you won't shoot anything." The other, younger kids loved her but the older kids refused to be humiliated by a _girl._ Because when it came down to it she was a girl. But she was a girl who could kick their asses. That's why this would have to be done very carefully.

Maybe it was time to bring things to daddy.

But in the meantime they bit their tongues and aimed at small targets about five feet in front of them because they weren't 'ready' for the big shots. Oh they so were. Until they were able to talk to their father, they would have to endure anything she dished out.

'I wonder if they know their dad likes me.' Artemis thought as she helped a younger, overly excited demigod load her sheath of arrows. "That's it honey! They go in the other way… ohhh… yeah I'll get you a band-aid…"

'These kids are amazing; I've never seen such energy. But I'm sensing hostility from the ones over there… I'd better keep an eye on them…'

The bell rang, signaling the change in classes. Artemis breathed a visible sign of relief. It was her first day on the job, after all and she was certain that she was doing well.

The goddess picked up a roll of paper that held her schedule and it said that she would have the Athenian cabin next. This should be fun…

*** (Break)

'Oh Zeus; it's only twelve thirty!' Artemis thought as she trudged into the Mess Hall. Today she had Hermes first block (impossible), Athena second (they are very good with weapons), Apollo third (they cooperated well) and Poseidon (as in Percy) fourth. Now it was lunch time for an hour and after that she would have Ares (oh goody!), Demeter (they'll be fine), free time for an hour, then dinner, a sort of Volleyball League and a Campfire Singalong.

Tomorrow she would have Aphrodite (can't wait!), Hephaestus (they would be nice but not very graceful with a bow…), Dionysus (as in Pollux), Nemesis, and then two empty blocks for Zeus and Hera.

The next day consisted of a blank for Hades, herself and Hestia. The rest of the blocks were reserved for 'minor gods' children, as were the rest of the week's classes. There were events that she needed to be a part of such as Archery knockout on Wednesday, Trials of strength on Thursday and Capture the Flag on Friday. Other than those classes, she had a lot of free time.

She noticed that she took Chiron's classes, now instead of teaching two subjects he was just teaching Ancient Greek/Greek Mythology with Annabeth. She figured the old centaur needed a break so it was refreshing to be needed for something like that. She couldn't imagine seeing these hyper, hormonal, powerful storage houses more than twice a week or she might just explode in little godly pieces.

It was really interesting to read the schedules. The campers had classes like 'Ride the Rapids' and 'Monster Assault Techniques' and 'Firework Making', it was crazy. 'Kids shouldn't be doing these things,' she thought until she realized that these were the exact same things that she was making her Hunters do. Burying the thought in the back of her mind, she grabbed a plate and sat at the High Table, awaiting her colleagues.

Soon the campers filed in eagerly, chatting like birds in a worm- rain (don't ask… the Black Plague was a very strange era to live in). 'I wonder if I was ever like that… carefree, just talking with my friends…' that was until she realized that she, in fact, never had any friends. Ares, Hermes and Hephaestus were the closest thing she ever had to friends. 'Friends… ha, yeah right… gods don't have friends… only family and that doesn't keep us from fighting.'

But then Chiron stood (?) and began, "I hope that you're first day back… or first day in general…" many newly arrivals laughed. "…was enjoyable. Isn't our new teacher absolutely fabulous?" This was awarded with scattered applause from parts of the Hermes table, parts of Ares, almost all of Athena and Apollo, and Percy. "I know that some of you haven't had the pleasure of meeting Artemis yet in the Arena, but I promise you, you won't ever forget her teachings." Now several of the older Hermes cabin sniggered. Chiron continued, "Well, I won't keep you any longer. Dig in!"

And so they did. There was food everywhere. Artemis was curious about these children. They weren't like her Hunters at all. Her Hunters were always hard and tough because they had to be, but these kids were different. They all had different skills and talents but yet they were able to cooperate and get along. Almost all of them had been through war but yet, here they were, laughing and joking with their friends. It confused her. Weren't warriors supposed to be brave and strong?

Oh but they were. She could sense it. These demigods were an unusual bunch; unusually strong and powerful, that is. In all her godly years she never saw a group this dominant. Now she could see why Kronos decided to strike the last year; it was because he could sense their power before the gods could. Why? Because they never took the time to really know their children's extent.

Artemis looked around once more and then decided to eat. She had the Ares cabin next, after all. The food wasn't quite Olympus standards but exceeded first expectations. It certainly beat Hermes pot roast; you have to be immortal to endure that form of torture. She shuddered and plucked at her salad (Greek, of course!).

When lunch was over Artemis stood and shouted over the ruckus of the Mess Hall, "Ares Cabin, follow me!"

And to everyone's utter amazement; they did without complaint. Never in Chiron's many years did an Ares Cabin go to a class willingly; and with such a teacher! They seemed to have formed a mutual agreement to protect the new addition. This summer couldn't get any weirder.

Artemis was just as surprised. She had just thought that their initial warmness had been fake; or even sarcastic, but she never expected that it was a true respect for her. On the way there she spoke with Clarisse.

"Is it normal for you to treat all your new teachers with such vigor?" Artemis asked of Clarisse. Clarisse pondered a response for a moment.

"Well, usually it's a different kind of vigor. Usually the new instructor ends up with a bucket load of worms in its bed." Artemis grinned and Clarisse continued on a more serious note. "But really, I couldn't stand Aphrodite. It was only out of respect for Selena that I continued to tolerate any of _her_ offspring. She absolutely repulsed me and fellow Ares children. Personally, we could never see what he saw in her."

"But why have you taken a liking to me? And don't pretend; I know you guys like me at least more than anyone else." Artemis prodded.

"Well, we like you. It's as simple as that. Plus, you have a certain girl- power that Aphrodite never had. You were always a major inspiration to us; except for the whole anti- boy thing. I do have a boyfriend. If dad's willing to have you over Aphrodite than the Ares cabin is behind you all the way." The entire cabin gave a cheer and Artemis simply glowed (even more than usual).

"Yeah, we like you." piped up a seemingly Haitian boy from Clarisses left. "You're a lot like dad. But without the blood thirst."

"Well, it seems that I have some allies. I should probably get to know you. But first; your names. I know you, Clarisse. How about you?" she addressed the Haitian.

"My name is Pierre Phillip. I'm strongest with a trident which is weird for a child of Ares. I guess that's also why Percy and I get along so well." This was awarded by an eye roll from his friend. The names continued all the way back to the arena and Artemis remembered them all.

"Who's new this year?" Artemis asked after the cabin found seats on the grass. "I need to know who I can instruct first."

"No one. It seems dad stopped reproducing with ol Markie here." Pierre gestured to a small but aggressive looking boy to his right. The boy, Mark, scowled at Pierre's bravery and punched him in the shoulder which easily resulted in a small brawl between the two brothers. Clarisse, who normally wouldn't have cared, sat right between the boys, breaking up the fight.

"Well, that's great then! You're the first class after Percy's that I don't have to teach anything! We can do some fun stuff this period. Now, I know you're father and weapons so I hope you guys will have enough restraint not to kill one another. Ares will not be very happy with me."

The campers smirked and slapped one another on the backs. Pierre high fived Clarisse and said, "Yeah we won't. No one's smart enough to want to mess with dad on his bad days. But if we were playing with the Aphrodite cabin maybe…"

"Well, the game goes like this; there will be two teams and two bows. Let's break into the teams now. Clarisse and Pierre, you guys are team captains." Artemis waited on the side, watching as the captains picked their players. This would be an interesting game; there were no best players because they were all so large and skilled so it made it difficult to choose the best players first. She figured they would both be pretty evenly matched.

When all the players were on one team or the other Artemis stood, ready to give further direction. "Ok, now you see those bows over there?" she pointed to a small barrel that held all the bows. "You guys have to each pick one out that fits. You do that now." The cabin enthusiastically ran to the barrel and begun to pick out their bows. Artemis distributed colored pennies to one of the teams while the other was siding out their weapons and then they switched. She decided to use pennies because she figured they wouldn't need to use the color coordinated battle helmets and armor.

"Alright guys. Now I want you to stand in a line across from the targets over there. This game doesn't really have much archery involved; it's just a game I do with my Hunters when they are feeling over stressed and need to loosen up a little bit. You will stand with your group on the white lines." Both red and blue teams rushed over to stand in their spots. "Now, this also is a game that will allow me to access your skills and it will tell me where you are archery wise. You will aim at the target in front of you. I assume we have enough?" The kids nodded.

"Good. Now, you know how to hit a target right? Ha, no need to get sarcastic guys I was just kidding! Anyway, the outside rim is worth ten points, the middle ring is twenty and the center area is worth fifty. You can see that first, you are pretty far away from the targets and also that the center area is fairly small so don't be upset if you don't make it. Now, you have three arrows to get as many points as you can. These arrows are especially made for no cheating. Not that you could cheat on this but anyway. When you have shot your three arrows, let me know."

The Ares cabin eagerly began to shoot their arrows. Artemis could see that they were all very good fighters, but had difficulty handling such a dainty weapon as a bow. Their rather large hands were having trouble using the instrument without breaking it. They made good shots though; most made it at least to the middle ring. Some, like Pierre and Clarisse made it to the center.

"You guys done?" all of them shouted an affirmative and she stood and went over to a nearby chalk board. "I'll start with the red team. The first person will tell me their total score and we'll go down the line to the blue team. Whoever gets the most amounts of points will get the ball first in dodgeball!" the entire Ares cabin screamed and yelled in excitement; they were being very cooperative.

It turned out that the red team (Clarisses) had the most points in the end. So she brought them over to an open part of the arena where a line of golden balls were on the grass. The red team grabbed the balls and flexed their muscles to look intimidating but the other side was not impressed. It seemed this was a sight they had often seen.

"Ok, on my whistle… three… two… one…" and they were off. It was easily the scariest match of dodgeball she had ever seen be a bunch of teenagers. Good thing that they were also special balls that prevented anyone from getting hurt. They sort of bounced off the opponent and they also made it impossible to lie about if you were out or not because they would keep hitting you in the gut until you went into the jail zone.

Clarisse was easily the best fighter and she never got out even once. She was just too practiced. She jumped and swirled, it wasn't really a surprise when the Red team won.

"Shake hands with the blue team!" Artemis said and the two team captains joined in the middle and shook hands. The bell then ironically rung just as they broke. "Hey guys, could you help me get ready for Demeter? Just put away the bows and balls where you found them! Could you also take out the arrows and put them in their sheaths?" Then the cabin scurried about to do just that. She walked them to their next class and returned to teach the Demeter group.

*** (Break)

"How was your first day, Lady?" Chiron inquired.

"The children were surprisingly well behaved; especially the Ares cabin."

"Yes, it does seem that they have taken a liking to you, doesn't it? Well, I think it's good that they aren't all bullies all the time. It's good that they're branching out. Don't you agree Dionysus?" Chiron turned his horse hind to face both the gods and flicked his tail.

"Yes the little bullies have finally found an ally." Dionysus didn't even look up from his solitaire game. "But it seems that you've gotten the cold shoulder from Hermes."

"Yes, I find that's really strange, their father and I are very good friends. I just think it's because the jokesters became the joke-es. I really think that no one has ever stood up to them before. I like them a lot and Hermes used to be just like them… before Luke that is." Artemis explained and sat down on a poufy chair to enjoy her fellow Olympians company.

"We don't talk about Luke much around here. He's sort of become a Taboo subject." Chiron said sadly and tittered on his hind legs. "The Hermes cabin has been much moodier lately. I guess it's a good think that they've started pranking again."

"Speak for yourself, horse- man." Dionysus snorted. He recently found his shoes to be filled with toothpaste. Bubble gum toothpaste. "Can we change the subject please?"

"Fine. What did you teach the children?" Chiron began.

"Oh no not that! How about something like 'Why do you continue to wear that ridiculous makeup?'" Dionysus cut in rolling his eyes and scratching his protruding belly.

"I believe it's an invention of Aphrodite. I think it refuses to let you bury feelings or whatever. It gets super annoying and I haven't been able to get it off." Artemis gave a visual by rubbing her hand vigorously across the top lid of her eye, attempting to get rid of the eyeshadow. Dionysus just yawned, nodded and returned to his game.

"Hm maybe it's like a puzzle and you have to figure it out for yourself. Maybe you should discuss it with our new Oracle?" Chiron suggested.

"Oh yes Apollo told me about that! Rachel, I believe? I wonder; she can't marry anyway, could she become a Hunter?" Artemis asked.

"I doubt she would want to leave school, her friends and family."

"Hm I suppose you're right. But what if…? Whatever, I have enough Hunters. I was hoping to do some recruiting while here… do you mind?" Artemis questioned.

"I have no problem with it, as long as you're not shoving brochures down all the young maidens' throats." Chiron answered.

"I have no intention of doing so. It will be of their own free will. I do not wish to vex anyone or pressure anyone into anything that they are not willing to commit to." Artemis wised.

"Yes, well in that case I do not see how that would be a problem. Think over my advice on our Oracle and come to see me about it if you change your mind."

"Yes I see. Well, I take that as my leave; I will retire. Thank you for a charming first day." Artemis stood. "Bless you Chiron, imagine doing this for eternity." She sighed and Chiron laughed as she saw herself out of the Big House.

*** (Break)

"Brother, do you know if the Oracle could tell me what is with this makeup?" Artemis asked not twenty minutes later to Apollo via Iris message. She was brushing her hair and preparing for bed.

"I don't think it's the Oracles knowledge to know what gods do, she just works with the prophecies. You know; the future as we know it." Apollo was skeptical. "I mean you could try but her knowledge only goes so far. She could probably tell you maybe a rhyme or something to get rid of it?"

"I guess I will try then. I did not have very high expectations for this plan but I suppose asking will not cause any harm. How are things over your way?" Artemis asked, finished with her hair and sitting down to properly face her brother.

"Very well. Ares was not happy with his new job. He likes Hephaestus but conversations are awkward and the work is dull. He thinks you hit gold with this job. Speaking of which, how're things with you?"

"Surprisingly enough, I believe I have made allies with the Poseidon, Athenian, Apollo," Apollo grinned. "Demeter, Ares… all except for Hermes. Well, some of them. The older ones aren't fond of me because I told them off for being wise to me."

"Good for you sis, you're finally popular! Get any volunteers yet?" Apollo laughed some more.

"No not yet. This century everyone is obsessed with dating." Artemis said dryly and Apollo grinned some more.

"Yeah well good luck sis. Ares and I were planning on dropping in this weekend to see the kids… and you of course! Got to get ol dad's permission though. But we'll get there. Promise." Apollo winked and Artemis rolled her eyes.

"Well, do that and I'll talk to you soon? Take care will you?" Artemis scolded.

"Yes mother…" and their connection faded as he waved his hand through his end.

And as Artemis settled into bed, thoughts kept her company. She couldn't decide if she wanted to see Ares or not… she definitely wanted to see her brother. They've been getting so close… but Ares. She just didn't know. She reminded herself that it was the makeup. The makeup was causing these… disturbances. She hasn't been in her right mind this past year.

Artemis made a promise as she settled and began to drift… that she would find a way to make things right again like they used to be.

*** (Break)

**Sooooo…. This has been my longest chapter yet! Who liked it?!? Raise your hands!!! Wow ten and a half whole pages… it took me all week. I'm hoping to update my other stories before this one so beware… I love you guys tell me how you liked it and yeah so… review!!!! Also, I need inspiration!!!! If you have any ideas feel free to tell me!!!!**


	11. The Family Reunion

**Hey Hey! I know it's been really long since I updated, but really hope this chapter has been worth it. It's a whole sixteen and a half pages long! Holy Apollo's cows that's amazing. This chapter has friendship, romance, family, confusion, some bad written action as well.**

**Well anyways… thanks to Thread of the Maze, Athena's Helm (go C3PO!), PrimaBallerina5683 (here is your romance, live laugh love it), Half Blood in Training (otherwise known as Dre4m3r, I love you girl!), ZoeNightshade2214 (thanks for reviewing All The Time!), acast (thanks for always reviewing!), Artemis-Roth (love ya!), Prima and Half Blood again for chapter 10, anonoymous and acast (again)and Artemis-Roth (again), and in conclusion, Diana Solo who is absolutely the awesome-est Zekk/Jania fan ever.**

**Disclaimer- I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Hersey Park or C3PO (and somehow I'm ok with that) **

_(start chapter)

The sky was bright and glorious, a sure sign that something good happened Apollo's way. Artemis was always able to tell with her brother. As his chariot flew through the sky, Artemis was never as excited for night to fall. Lessons were a bore to her as well as the children when they flew through the days lessons plans like one of her many concocted jackalope. The Hermes children were still trying to outwit the goddess to no avail. She always knew when, for example, a snake was in her pillow. Mysterious packages were immediately disposed of and she carried a flask around at all times.

Every passing day aggravated the Children of Thieves even more, sometimes at their worst points, they greatly resembled a tick just on the verge of popping. Artemis and many other cabins just found it an amusing game. 'They really are getting desperate,' thought Artemis that morning at breakfast as she picked a beetle out of her porridge happily and sacrificed the rest to the gods, then getting a different helping. It seemed like her brothers good mood was rubbing off on her as she trotted from lunch later that day and kissed a satyr on the forehead (resulting in him passing out).

She forgot to be cold to Aphrodite, strict to Hermes and even stern with a young Demeter girl when she sneezed and a vine tripped the goddess, causing her to fall flat on her face. What would usually come after that is a warning and a time out but his time she just laughed right along with them. Even through dinner and one of Dionysus boring tales about getting mortals drunk was exciting. Usually at the Camp Sing Along she would just hum to herself, if that, but today she was singing along with the rest of them and the flames seemed to touch the laughing crescent moon.

Later when humming a tune that sounded suspiciously like A Star Is Born and getting ready for bed, a glimmering light caught her eye from the Iris message basin in the corner of her spacious cabin. More excited than ever she knelt in front of it to receive the call.

"What's up baby sis?" Apollo the sun god greeted enthusiastically. This time Artemis did not roll her eyes or even damper his spirit, but grinned back.

"Today you must have been mighty happy, I saw your show! That was one of the most spectacular suns I have ever seen… ever! Tell me, do you have good news?" Artemis was giddy and anxious to hear more.

"Do I ever! First, I met this nymph… her name is Delilah and we just had the best time, walking through gardens… pranking Hermes… shoving worms down Cupids diapers… it was the best day ever!" Apollo gushed with a goofy smile on his face but then quickly stopped when Artemis' eyebrow shot up. "But the other good news I have… the gods, for the first time ever, all at one time… are visiting Camp Half Blood! Isn't that just so exciting? The big man told me himself this morning. I was tempted to rush through my job just so I could tell you!" Artemis beamed nearly as bright as her twins' chariot this morning.

"Everyone? You mean it! Oh the children will be so excited! I must go tell them… but wait! What am I thinking its midnight I'll wake everyone up!" Artemis was pacing trying to contain her positive energy. Apollo laughed at his twins' strange behavior.

"What's wrong with you today?" he laughed. "You haven't been yourself!"

"You're right! These past few weeks have been so great! I feel like a hundred again! I absolutely love it here, the kids are just great and the place is beautiful. The only things I really miss are my Hunters."

"What! I left that part out? Your Hunters are coming too!" Apollo slapped his head with his hand in mock-frustration. "We're all going to be one big family again!"

"Yes, this is great!"Artemis exclaimed.

"Well, I'll see you soon sis! I've got to go. I have to get some rest for tomorrow's sunrise. It's going to be a doosy." Apollo said and Artemis grinned at her brother's foolishness.

"Thank you for Iris-ing me! It means a lot brother," Artemis said with true emotion.

"Anytime. You had better get you're rest," Apollo chided.

"Yes, goodbye!" Artemis waved her hand through the mist after her brother winked her way, breaking the connection.

As she settled into bed she never felt so great in her life. She was just so alive with excitement that she could barely contain herself. Catching her strange behavior, she silently cursed Aphrodite and her stupid makeup, and then settled into the covers. She fell asleep staring at the moon.

_ (section break)

'Oh man this really sucks royal Zeus,' thought Ares the next day, early in the morning at Hephaestus' forges. Today he was sorting good metal from rusted ones and it was probably the worse type of job that his brother could have offered him. 'This is probably some form of revenge. Cruel, cruel revenge. '

"Brother, are you almost finished?" Hephaestus grunted from the next room over where he was… erm… forging. A clink of a hammer on hot metal was heard and Ares could see the sparks emitting.

"No, you have more crap here than Earth has people!" Ares swore in Ancient Greek as he cut himself on a particularly sharp sword made of celestial bronze. The golden blood drippled from the wound and he sucked on it, stemming the flow.

He could have sworn he heard his brother laugh at his expense. But it was gone as soon as it began, lost underneath the pounding of metal on metal. He grimaced and returned to his work. 'Ug this is worse than World Peace.' He rifled through more trinkets until he found a strange bending piece of… jewelry? It was in the trash pile but it looked good enough for royalty. Ares pocketed it, for later.

After most of it had been sorted, he went to the main room to talk to Hephaestus. He figured that as long as he was here he mind as well make the most of it, get to know his brother a little more. Also, he needed a break for all the grays of hardened steel were melting together and fogging his brain.

"You done?" Grunt.

"Nope. I wanted to talk to my brother, is that so wrong?" Ares innocently said.

Grunt. Mumble. "Fine," Vulcan said and pounded and turned his work over to do the next side.

"So… what's new?" Ares leaned on a nearby table with a single elbow, casual.

"Excited (grunt), seeing my kids soon. (Grunt)"

"Really?" Ares eyebrow raised. "Why wasn't I informed?"

"Was going to tell you later (grunt). Everyone's going."

"Hmm, that's nice. Gonna get to see the little piranhas in their natural habitat. What's the date?" Ares asked.

"This Saturday."

"Oh man, that's when I have that appointment with Asclepius! I'm going to be a little late," Ares groaned and pounded the table in frustration.

"She will understand," Hephaestus smirked and Ares gaped.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he stuttered. "Who?"

"I think it's time for you to leave. You've done enough here brother," Hephaestus raised his hand and suddenly Ares found himself in his home.

"I hate it when you do that!" Ares yelled at the ceiling. The ceiling didn't answer back.

_ (section break)

"So, you're excited about seeing your kids?" Apollo asked Ares the next day during lunch. They were both munching on god food of some sort. It kind of glowed, a sort of aura. Apollo took a bite.

"Yeah, I'm going but I'm going to be a tinsy bit late," Ares held up two fingers showing how tinsy his late would exactly be.

"She will understand," Apollo smiled and hid behind his cup. But Ares did not react the way he expected he would. He just sighed and put his head in one of his hands while the other twirled a straw in his glass.

"Yep. Whatever."

"Hey, look. Just think, the summers almost over and soon things will be back to the way they were before," Apollo sympathized.

"That's what I'm afraid of."

_(section break)

"Ladies and Gentlemen of all ages, I have some very exciting news!" Artemis announced during lunch. She banged her spoon across her Dr. Pepper a couple of times to get the campers attention. "You're parents are coming to visit!"

The uproar was amazing. Friends and siblings chattered together, all wanting their voice to be heard until every monster in a five mile radius could hear their screams of delight. The table that was probably the most excited was probably Ares; Artemis figured that this would be a chance to show their father exactly how much they know about warfare.

She pulled out a silver hunter's horn and blew, getting the Demigods attention. "They will be coming this Saturday," and once again the chatter began. She blew harder. "How about a game of Capture the Flag to make the gods proud?"

This was the climatic point for the camper's noise. This was almost deafening to the point of insanity. Her horn could not be blown over this noise. So she grabbed the class she had next by yelling in the head counselor's ear. The journey to the arena was also a loud one and it took Artemis most of the class to just calm them down. She figured that they didn't have time for the lesson that she had planned so she let them talk while she relaxed.

It wasn't often that she had a chance to think, and it became sparser when she had come to Camp Half- Blood. In fact, ever since she had this stupid makeup put on she had been refusing herself the pleasure of reflecting on life because she was afraid it would go where she didn't want it to be. In this period of self indulgence of the mind she decided she would ask Annabeth what her suggestion for the makeup is. It was getting quite annoying and if she could get it off before Saturday, even better.

So after the days classes were over she took the scenic route to the Athenian cabin. When she knocked the door was immediately answered by a young boy around nine, small even for his age. "May I help you?" he was just so cute and tiny.

"Yes, I was wondering if Annabeth was here."

"I'll get her for you," he offered. His little kind face left the opening and the face of Annabeth took his place.

"You wanted to see me?" she asked.

"I have a question for you. I was thinking maybe we could brainstorm or something," Artemis explained. Annabeth nodded and followed the goddess to the Forest lining were they began on a walk.

"I was wondering. Would you happen to know a way to get rid of this makeup? I mean really, it is getting seriously annoying." Artemis told her student who was already thinking intently.

"I don't know. Aphrodite has been known to be sly and sometimes cunning so I'm guessing that the only way to get it off is by solving some kind of puzzle or riddle. Probably something to do with love," Annabeth guessed slowly. They made their way to the lake where the naiads waved sarcastically. Both girls rolled their eyes and continued walking.

"That certainly sounds a lot like her. So what? Do I have to admit to someone something or whatever?" Artemis caught on.

"Probably. We could talk to Percy's friend Rachael if you want. She's coming tomorrow on Friday to visit us again. She's the new Oracle."

"Yes, I know. I was asking my brother about her as well. He said that she might be able to give me twisted advice in the form of a poem or whatever. Still, I'd rather decipher a message than not have any leads whatsoever," Artemis pondered. She twisted a small cluster of hair between her fingers and adjusted her silver headband.

"Well, how do you like it here?" asked Annabeth who changed the subject slightly curious.

"I love it when you kids listen to me. Then it makes coming here even more the enjoyable. I love teaching archery all day long but sometimes I wish for godly company, this is another reason why I am looking forward to the meeting this weekend. I understand why they put me here, but I do not get what their purpose is. Usually when they distribute punishments it is to make us learn an important lesson."

"Maybe you know but you're not willing to admit it to yourself yet. Hence the makeup. Maybe the reason why it exaggerates feelings is because she wants you to get the lesson faster so you won't go through so much torment." Annabeth guessed.

"Well, the only thing I can think of is admitting to Ares but why would Aphrodite want to help me with that? I mean, they've been dating forever." Artemis thought out loud.

"Hm, do you want to ask her when she comes?" Annabeth teased and Artemis glared at her slightly smiling. Artemis gave her companion a slight friendly push and Annabeth laughed.

"I mean look at Percy and myself; it took forever but we've made it. You guys have been partners in crime for how long and you've never even admitted anything? Seriously." Annabeth gazed into the sparkling water, eyes misty remembering a recent date that her boyfriend and herself had shared on this very same beach.

"Well, gods do mature slower than humans. It's really ridiculous. But I think it's funny how my brother and I skipped babyhood and went straight to god-dom and look how he turned out! He's one of the most immature people you will ever know." Artemis laughed and Annabeth joined her in her merriment.

"Yes, well I suppose we could give Rachael a shot if you want. She's arriving first thing tomorrow morning after Percy picks her up from her school. He's got a new car, you know," Annabeth explained.

"Good for her, going to that all girls school," Artemis said seriously, then grinned at the look Annabeth gave her.

The friends walked along the shore, kicking shells at naiads. They both certainly have come a long way from where they once were.

_ (section break)

"So Rachael, what do you have for our goddess friend here?" Percy asked of his red- head friend after the original excitement of her arrival had worn out. They were seated in the Big House in the main room awaiting the Oracles pearls of wisdom. The sun had just come up and it was obviously going to be a beautiful summer's day.

Rachael closed her eyes for a second and when she opened them again they were bright green. She spoke in a harsh voice these words;

_A battle of wills stronger than steel;_

_Will break lose to ones appeal;_

_When stubborn meets stubborn only then will;_

_The coating relinquish;_

_As will the parting stitch_

When the red-head opened her eyes again she looked around at the ring of friends. "Sorry if it was sort of cheesy, they've been getting really bad lately. Nothing I can do about it."

"I think it was almost too straightforward," complained Annabeth. Percy glared at her.

"Well, I guess know what I have to do," said Artemis glumly and put her head in her hands. "This really isn't my sort of thing. I guess I just have to meet up with him."

"Who him?" asked Rachael curiously and her eyes darted from person to person. "What have I missed?"

From where she sat, Artemis just waved her hand, encouraging her students to tell the story. When it was all finished Rachael just sat and looked. A few expressions fought for control over her face and finally she burst into a sort of insane laughter. Percy grinned in spite of himself and Annabeth slapped his shoulder.

Artemis began laughing too, her shoulders shaking, chest heaving. "I know! Of all the entire things to worry about… we have this! The messed up romantical life of a pure goddess! Wow. Someone should write a story about this one!" She let another chuckle loose before she stood. "Well if you guys will excuse me, I have to get ready for my classes."

"That was abrupt." Rachael said and her friends chuckled again. "So what did I say this time?"

"Something about relinquishing stitches or whatever. I try not to get involved with this entire romantic crap," Percy said and brushed his semi- bangs out of his eyes.

"Well, I think Artemis needs a sturdy man. Ares needs her as much as she needs him," Annabeth defended, crossing her arms over her chest.

Percy held up his hands in defeat. "I never said I didn't think they would be good together. In fact, I think they are perfect. But what can I do? I prefer to sit back with a box of popcorn and watch this chick- flick unfold."

"Ah the real life drama; god romance stories," said Rachael dreamily, holding her hands together in sort of a prayer pose and her eyes looking at the ceiling. Annabeth sighed too and Percy just rolled his eyes.

"Whatever. I am going to stay as far away from Ares as I possibly can, I really do not want to feel the heat if she rejects him. Cause you know he's gonna come after me." Percy shuddered. "He's gonna beat me to a pulp."

"I thought you weren't afraid of him?" Rachael asked.

"I'm not but you haven't seen when boys get dumped. It really isn't pretty." Percy shook his head. "I just hope no one I know is near him when he blows."

Then the bell for breakfast rung and the team split up. The breakfast was blue pancakes. The world would just have to wait.

_(section break)

The next day everyone woke up with a feeling of a sort of good foreboding. Their parents were coming today! When all the gods get together it can be both a good thing and a bad thing. Most arguments that sprout out during family meetings usually result in many lost limbs, on other people or animals of course.

Artemis was excited about seeing certain gods but she was not ecstatic about seeing Hera or Aphrodite. She was almost looking forward to seeing Ares. Almost if not for the huge knot in the pit of her stomach like something was going to happen. Usually, when she had one of those feelings they typically turned out to be right. For example, the night when Percy and the others picked up Bianca and Nico she had the same sense of uneasiness.

But whatever. She would have all the fun that she wanted today. Today she would prove to the gods how good she was doing at her temporary job. Then her mind wandered to Ares in his forges and wondered if he was enjoying himself. 'I seriously doubt it' she thought. 'I don't think I would like it much if I was forced to work with my ex girlfriends husband- also his brother! Ouch I never thought of that…' her mind trailed off and saw in the distance a figure running over to her deserted cabin.

She peeked out the door at the approaching satyr. "Milady! They are coming in one hour! They are meeting us for breakfast and staying for the rest of the day," he panted as he reached the door. He put his hands on his knees while gulping for air.

"Ug that soon?" she groaned. "Usually they're super late… ok um…I need to get dressed. Tell Chiron that I'll be down as soon as I can. Wake the children will you?"

She dresses quickly but impressively. Once again, she never ceased to amaze the satyrs with her natural beauty. When she finally made it to the Big House after a group of lonely satyrs ambushed her, she started to apologize to Chiron. Now it was only ten minutes until the gods came.

Chiron started pacing (a miraculous feat for such a large creature) and it started to get Dionysus nervous so he yelled at the already anxious teacher. Chiron knelt by the window to watch. It then dawned on Artemis that she had no idea how her colleagues would be arriving. She knew her brother would try to make a grand entrance on his chariot and then hand the reins off to one of his minor god sons, but besides that she really had no clue. The gods were really original when it came to dramatic entrances and she figured they would want to make a spectacular entrance for their children.

"Perhaps we should go outside?" Artemis suggested as the crowd of campers outside got larger and larger, all circling around trying not to miss a single godly entrance. Chiron answered with a curt nod and a flick of his tail. They took their positions on logs near the lake and waited.

"What's taking them so long they were supposed to be here five minutes ago," Dionysus grumbled and looked at his watch.

As soon as the words escaped his lips a dazzling light filled the sky and a golden caravan pulled up with Apollo in the driver's seat. Percy recognized this vehicle as the very same one that he had ridden in when he was in his third year at Camp. Apollo jumped out of the driver's seat and made his way over to the other side where he opened the doors and all the Minor Gods with children went piling out. Apollo whispered something to one of his immortal kids (also his second- in- command) in the front seat. He nodded and took the wheel, guiding the sun into the distance.

After greeting his kids, Apollo came over to sit with his twin. He embraced his sister and told her, "These gods were not happy riding with me. I think they all wanted their own entrances. But Zeus insisted," he grinned. "How are you?"

But she never had a chance to answer his question because when she opened her mouth a large sort of rumbling could be heard from the ground. She watched in bemusement as a large grain stalk rose from the ground and Demeter came from the lower part. Her children clapped enthusiastically and she yawned as the stalk went back into the ground. She embraced her children.

Soon after there came an owl with an olive branch clamped tight in its talons. Before it flew away it rested the olive on the ground and it grew to reveal a shining goddess. Athena waved to her godly companions than glided over to converse with her offspring.

Then a fleet of naiads came from the water holding a large heart. The heart opened up like a clam revealing the beautiful goddess of love. She rose from the pillows with grace and joined her kids and the heart grew wings and floated heavenward.

"Cheesy," Artemis muttered. But she became silent again as a flock of carrier pigeons came from the sky carrying a net with them. They laid the golden net on the ground and Hermes was revealed. He went to join his kids.

Then a ball of flame suddenly arose from the ground. But nothing was burning. Metal chains snaked up from the ground to meet the fire and they both twisted themselves into the form of a man. It became clearer that this was Hephaestus' doing. He immerged from the flame unscathed and joined his cabin. Now, if you thought that was cool, imagine this; skeletons with flaming blue eyes brooding into the deepest depths of your soul, marching from all around, surrounding the camp, lead by a boy with dark hair and a grim smile. It was Nico. From out of a tree came a large hellhound and the camp as a single entity screamed at the top of their lungs. Hades jumped from his steed and asked the hound to go back to its home. It disappeared back into the shadows.

Since Hades had no one but Nico, they called off the spirits and sat next to Artemis, Apollo, Chiron and Dionysus.

Then, to be anti-climatic, a single ember appeared in the middle of the field and Hestia transformed from its eerie glow. She sat with the childless group.

A sort of bubbling came from the sea next. It grew and grew and grew and then a hundred horses came from the deep and a pair of hippocami pulled along a sea chariot which held none other than Poseidon. He casually stepped on the sand and embraced Percy. They grinned and sat on the log next to Artemis' talking quietly.

Then came the grand finale. The sky became dark and gray, clouds came from nowhere to block out the sun. Apollo swore. Thunder roared and scared the living crap out of Hades. He swore. Many small strips of lightning spread across the sky, fanning out. The crowd was in awe. And then a single thirty foot in diameter long strip of lightning came from the sky to find refuge on the ground. From its near blinding light came Zeus and his wife Hera who looked like this was something that they did every day.

The place cleared up and the sun was back. The campers after recovering from their shock gave a long round of applause to all of their parent figures. Even the other gods were at envy of the others performance. Especially Aphrodite, who's was kind of lame.

"Oh, I wanted to tell you sis, Ares has a doctor's appointment and is going to be a little late," Apollo leaned in and explained in her ear. Of course Artemis was a little worried ( ) about his not being there, she was more concerned with the lack of Hunters. Apollo, sensing the cause of her discomfort, said hurriedly, "They're coming. They wanted to be last. But they had to wait for Zeus to finish and make it look like they got lost. You know how he gets." And they both rolled their eyes. After many greetings and almost five minutes later a streak of silver shone through the sky and the beautiful sound of bells rung clear amidst the chaos.

A beautiful chariot with Thalia at the reins touched down and the girls with the silver bows came pouring out and kneeled in front of their leader. "Rise, fair maidens," Artemis smiled. The girls glanced uncertainly at one another. Their goddess had never smiled and now she was doing it openly? What did this camp offer that they could not give her themselves? "My friends…" and she embraced a blushing Thalia. She patted Artemis' back awkwardly and disengaged. "It is alright, if you have parents here you may stand at their side."

Some of the girls separated, mostly to the minor gods and goddesses but others like Thalia to the main Olympians. Artemis stood in front of her family, arms opened wide and dazzling smile aglow. "Welcome to Camp- Half Blood. Some of you have been here before this day, many of you have not. We will give a grand tour later, but first let me direct your attentions to the Mess Hall where we will be eating our morning meal together. I hope many of you will not mind but I feel that the children would greatly enjoy your presence at their tables. Chiron, Dionysus and I have arranged for special chairs at the end of the tables overlooking your children." The Olympians nodded all around, showing that it would be quite fine with them.

As they made their way into the Mess Hall and everyone became settled in their seats, Artemis found it extremely lonely when she saw the campers with their parents all smiling and laughing. The numbers that these gods had were atrocious but Artemis found herself wishing that she might have a couple of little hers wandering around, tugging at her boots. She shook her head. 'Things like that don't happen in real life,' she scolded herself and dug into her food while eating with her Hunters. They all looked about at her, as if expecting her to do something.

Then she remembered. "Oh! Right… erm, please bless this food that we eat to the Olympians, the reason in which life on earth exists, yada yada yada, erm dig in!" and the Hunters slowly stuck their forks into their food and carefully chewed. "Guys, it's not poisonous! Eat!" Artemis encouraged. Once they overcame their initial timid feeling towards the food they became more enthusiastic and ate at a more vigorous pace. "That's it guys!"

When she looked at the goddesses fixing their daughters hair and the gods scolding their sons she felt that longing again. Sure her Hunters were close to her offspring but they were like hardened adopted children, fixed to her hunting needs. All in all, they were not fun. Maybe it was time she loosened up a little. She was going to show her kids a good time.

_(section break)

"Alright, you guys all know how to play Capture the Flag, right?" Artemis yelled to the two teams later that evening after a hearty dinner. She had purposefully separated half her Hunters from one another so they would have more fun. Or something like that. There was Poseidon, Athena, Hermes, Apollo and Hephaestus (plus the few Hunters) against Aphrodite, Ares, and Demeter, Hades, Many mini-god cabins and the rest of the Hunters. They decided on a single representative (Percy and Clarisse) and they went forward to shake hands. Today their handshakes were friendlier and they had nothing against the other anymore. This did not mean that the Red Team would let the Blue off easy. There is no way in the entire Underworld. The teams both laughed at her question (actually her Hunters gave a more solemn nod) and they took their positions.

The gods were on satyr-made stands high off the ground where they were able to see their children. Many of the women held opera glasses and the men just brought binoculars. Hermes brought a telescope. Sigh.

"Ok, if you're all ready… on my whistle… three… two… one… whhheeeetttt!" blew Artemis and the games began. There was a rush for battle strategies to be completed and for a few moments, just mass chaos. And then the Blue team did some sort of arrow goose thing and rushed over to the opposing side "FOR OLYMPUS!" but once they made it over the golden line separating the two teams an army led by Pierre charged and met them. The Blue made a quick retreat and only a single young Hermes boy was captured.

The blues raced into the forest, hoping to surprise the Reds when they came out. Clarisse barked out orders for her team to patrol the sidelines. Artemis and the other gods waited in silly anticipation when all of a sudden, the blue team burst out of the forest screaming something on the lines of 'For Narnia!' and the red team when out to meet them yelling 'WE are SPARTA!' and they met in the middle for a full out battle invasion. But after a long while no one noticed Annabeth Chase creeping along the sidelines. She grabbed the opposing team's flag and had already made it over the lines before the Reds even noticed he was there. The sad part was that she had never touched her Invisibility Cap.

Clarisse let out a roar of defeat and stalked away with her team in tow. Although the battle was impressive, the gods clapped politely, as they had seen better battles. Artemis explained that they were the best for part- mortals. They looked ashamed. Clarisse did look relieved, though that her father was not there because she knew that he would be disappointed and blame her.

Clarisse glumly trudged over to Artemis who was walking with the rest of the gods as they prepared to leave. "We lost. Sure we fought our hardest, as we always do, but it's really not the same. I mean, if my dad was here I'm pretty sure we would have won out of fear but still. The Ares Cabin is slacking off to that trout."

"Well, maybe you should think of forming an Alliance," Artemis told Clarisse. "This way you're bound to win."

"But enemies do not ally with other enemies," complained Clarisse.

"Well, in that case just think of it as family," Artemis said and Clarisse stopped. She thought for a moment, hard and then ran to converse with a hyped- up Percy. Artemis hummed merrily to herself, happy that she once again had made some good in the world. She jogged up to her brother and punched him in the arm in a friendly jest. "Hey Hot Head, you enjoy seeing your kids?"

Apollo chuckled. "Yes your Pureness. The little squirts are getting bigger every day. You know what's weird?" Artemis shook her head. "That someday your kids will look older than you are, and that makes things really awkward." He scrunched his nose and Aphrodite held back to put in her two-sense.

She laughed. "Yes, especially for me because they really can't be beautiful when everything is sagging." Artemis highly disagreed but held her tongue and smiled because she knew that was the only way that she would want to go away.

"So I see that you still haven't managed to get the makeup off," she mocked, bumping shoulders with her and swinging her arms. With a arm she twirled a piece of blonde hair and cocked her head to seem interested.

"No," Artemis said stiffly and Apollo tried to look anywhere but the conversation. "But I'm coming close."

"Are you now?" she snickered. "Well, when Ares gets here later, we'll see how much you figured out." Then she went away and skipped merrily to her husband and linked arms with him still laughing. Artemis rolled her eyes and looked to Apollo in exasperation. He shrugged and gestured for Hermes to walk with them.

"Hey Mailman what's new up your caduceus?" Apollo asked and Hermes laughed. He was steadily getting better with time. The past years he had been absolutely miserable but now that everything was behind him and the gods didn't blame him he was healing. Now it could be seen clearly that he was indeed the god of mischief.

"Nothing really. I imagine, though that the children are very excited to see their father." But when his eyes locked with Artemis' and he grinned they seemed to say 'I know someone else!' Artemis rolled her eyes again. A thought dawned on Hermes and he started, "Oh yeah, and Artemis I talked to my cabin and told them to lay off you. I said that if there's any god that you don't want to get steamed up, besides Ares its Artemis." Artemis grinned and thanked him.

The gods leaving was also a show in itself. Many just disappeared in a puff of colorful smoke, others in a salty breeze, and some in a mysterious wind. Others, like Zeus, made an exit of lightning striking his form and him vanishing. As Apollo piled the remaining in his sun-van Artemis watched nearby. When he finished he went to hug her. "Good Luck," he said and grinned before taking the wheel and driving off into the distance. Her arm was still in a sort of wave pose when she heard a loud noise, almost like gun shots.

Knowing immediately who it must be, she waited for him to make the first move. When he did not only then did she turn around. It was a slow revolve but when she found his form he had an apologetic look on his face and his hands were in both of his pockets awkwardly.

"So, did I miss the party?" he said weakly. Artemis put a hand on her eyes and exhaled loudly.

"For your information, there are some children of yours who were very excited to see you! You let them all down by coming late," she accused.

The fire returned to his eyes and any softness in his eyes was gone. "I had a good excuse," he said coldly.

"Oh yes? And what would that be? Wrecking havoc? Your children were very disappointed when they saw that their father wasn't there! Now, what was your great excuse?" she yelled.

He looked down abruptly and averted her eyes. "Well?" he shifted his feet almost shyly and said, "I had a very important doctor's appointment."

"What kind of doctor?" Artemis asked, throwing her arms around a bit in exasperation. He seemed to blush and mumbled something incomprehensible.

"What?" she snapped, she was finally losing her patience.

"That's not important," he fought back. "Where are my kids?"

"In their cabins but…" and she was caught mid- sentence because he was already storming to the semi circle of cabins. "Don't think I'm done with you!" she yelled in a last desperate attempt to get his attention. He waved a hand back in acknowledgement but continued on his way. She huffed and tromped to the lake where she sat and threw pearly white stones into the lake which was as smooth as glass.

Almost an hour later and she was still sitting there, only now her eyes were getting rather heavy. Gods really didn't need to sleep either but in these past few weeks Artemis had allowed herself to adapt to the camp schedule, which included sleeping.

She felt a warm hand on her shoulder and her first impulse was to elbow whatever it was right where in hurt. It hit its mark, and judging by the yelp that the war god made, it hurt too. "Geez a guy comes over to say he's sorry and gets elbowed in the money maker," he squeaked.

She turned around and apologized but not without a "How dare you sneak up on me! The nerve." He recovered from his initial shock and grinned. Soon she was laughing too and they were both shaking, shoulders heaving and broad smiles crossing their otherwise serious faces.

When they finally finished Ares began, "Hey in addition to apologizing, I wanted to see if you wanted to go on a walk with me." The grin faded from her face and she pondered.

"Why me?" she questioned suspiciously.

"Ya'know I would've asked Dionysus, but he's not my type. Bit too sour if you get my pun," he rolled his eyes and threw out a hand, reminding his converser very much of herself.

Warily, she took his now outstretched arm and they began the journey through the forest. They linked arms up until the forest quite easily but when they reached inside she immediately let go. This was because tree nymphs had started to go outside their trees and giggle. She glared at them, they became solemn and disappeared in a poof of smoke.

"They're all like that with me… just follow me around when I'm with…" he then trailed off and looked at her quickly as if afraid she was going to be upset.

She just shrugged. "It's not like I haven't noticed. Your cabin is the third biggest behind Aphrodite and Hermes." He nodded sheepishly and they continued in a comfortable silence. She broke it first by asking, "So how is life at the forges?" He grimaced in remembrance of the many tortures.

"Terrible. Hours are lousy, works boring and company is quiet. It's like the total opposite of me!" he explained and then sighed. "How about you? Are the kids treating you alright? Do I have to beat them?" he asked. At her questioning look he laughed and said, "No, I probably wouldn't beat them. Maybe a couple of years ago I might have but for some reason I'm just different now."

"Well then, um I guess that I enjoy it here. I mean it would have been better if I came to work here on my own free will because sometimes I feel sort of trapped but beside that I just love it. I teach my Hunters so it's similar to the same thing. Many of the Hunters are demigods too so it's really just the same," she explained. Ares actually looked interested which surprised her. 'He really has changed over the past few centuries,' she thought to herself amusingly.

"That's cool." He then smiled. "Hey I heard you made an alliance with my cabin!" he was excited and almost giddy.

"Yes, they were very kind to me the first day I came and overall, I just think they like me. I think it might be because…" she trailed off.

"Because why?" he stopped and whispered, turning to her. Her eyes glowed like moon light and she shined and glowed with the stars. He was at envy because all he did was fire, and here she was cooling him down without even trying.

"Because… they just like me," Artemis broke the connection and started walking again. Ares groaned. Why did women have to be so stubborn?

Soon they had made it to a clearing with a brook that ran off the lake winding in the middle. Artemis sat down by the edge and stuck her glowing hand into the water. Another cool thing about the goddess was that she could cool things up with her touch. You would assume that that would belong to some other god but she figured that since space and the moon was cold that this power was entrusted to her for that reason.

Ares could throw fire balls when faced with the challenge, but all he did now was warm his hand up a bit and sit next to her. When she took her hand out and put it on the sand, still very cold he put his glowing red on top of her glowing white and made steam. What should have been a quiet and intimate moment was ruined by Artemis' giggles.

"Haha we made steam!" she giggled some more and watched the light smoke drift off into the heavens.

Ares just looked at her the entire time, not taking his eyes off her never waning smile. Finally he said, "Personally, I didn't know you could giggle." With this she laughed some more.

"Neither did I," she admitted and played with their entwined hands a bit more refusing to meet his intense gaze. He used his free hand to lift her chin to interlock their eyes.

"So tell me," he rumbled. "Why did my kids give you their blessing?"

"Well," she stumbled. He had never seen her do that before. She had always composed herself so regally that she never had any speech mistakes. "They had said… well, they said that they like me better than Aphrodite, and well, that you always talked about me… they kind of, well, they sort of gave us their blessing…" she looked down and he swore he saw her blush.

"Us?" he repeated. She looked up ashamed. He looked disbelieving for a moment and then smiled once more. "Well, remind me to thank them personally." The Moon Goddess gave a sort of forced laugh and watched a leaf fall from a tree into the brook where it made ripples in the otherwise cool glassy texture of the water. He nudged her in her shoulder and she glanced at him.

"Now, all I have to do is ask Daddy," he whispered and leaned closer. Almost against her own will she leaned up to match his height but almost when they were about to touch a loud popping noise behind them sounded waking them of their trance.

It was Hermes. He had just appeared and was hiding his face with one hand. "Not looking, not looking, and not looking. Here, your dad wanted me to give this to you." He edged over and handed the golden envelope to a pissed looking Ares. Hermes mumbled a "Don't shoot the messenger…" and poofed away.

Angrily Ares ripped open the letter to read its contents.

It read as follows:

_Dear my daughter and my son;_

_Even though much of Olympus approves of this relationship, I must say that you are still punished. I refuse any interaction between the two of you before your terms are up. You have my warning._

_After the summer is up, then we shall see._

_With much love, blah blah blah,_

_Zeus, king of the sky._

"Holy mother of Zeus. Here read this," he said and forced the letter into the goddesses slightly trembling hands. He mimicked the words as she said them out loud.

After she finished reading and rereading, Ares said in outrage, "Well, I guess this is it for the rest of the summer." He stood up and pulled her with him. He tromped back the way they came and Artemis had to jog to keep up with him.

"Where are we going?" she inquired.

"I'm walking you back to your cabin, and then I'm leaving. It's as simple as that," he said. They finished the rest of the way in an angry sort of silence and they didn't speak again until Artemis was at her doorstep. "See you soon," he said and saluted her, military fashion. With a burst of flames and a wave of heat he was gone and Artemis was left standing at her door, wonder what in all of Olympus had just happened.

_(end chapter)

**Sooo… how did you like it! This is my longest chapter yet! (cheers) And it was also the hardest to write, naturally. I do not typically write action and/or romance but I want to do better so this is really great practice…so tell me what you thought of it and I might be able to pull a few strings and get Apollo to let you drive his Sun Chariot! Yeah, probably not… but still review!**


	12. The Understanding

**Weeeelllllllllll, first of all I would like to *gulp* tell you my excuses for updating so late… haha… well first of all, the entire beginning of June was the end of the year, then I went to Florida (the new HP theme Park is so unbelievable!), then I went to NY to see Hyperpotterprincess, then when I got back I spent the past two weeks working on sailing and getting caught up with A Very Potter Musical and the new and incredibly awesome A Very Potter Sequel! Seriously everyone, watch it! StarKidPotter on uTube!**

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed! There are way too many to individually name but thanks to all, 5 more and I'm at 100. I really appreciate all your help and support. This story is wrapping up but I hope I have inspired many of you to write Artemis/Ares. Thanks for everything.**

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"Why that boorish, brainless, thunderhead, lightning brain, son of a titan!" roared Ares as he stormed about his room, throwing practically anything he could get his hands on. Thankfully, all his possessions had been Ares-proofed so nothing could break. "He never can give me a break! Every time… and they all wonder why the gods' love lives are all screwed up!" he chucks a lamp across the room and yells almost primitively. "Every time…" he mutters once more before plopping onto his bed and rubbing his hands over his eyes tiredly. He then lays his upper body on the bed, arms splayed, while his legs touched the redwood flooring.

His silent moping was interrupted by a loud doorbell. Ares groaned and stood. He swaggered down the stairs and crossed the main room, opening the door to find the last person he expected to be there. There, standing at his threshold, soaking wet but still beautiful, was Aphrodite.

She gave a tentative smile. "Can I come in? It's _really_ wet out here."

"Uh, yeah… um sure, come on in," Ares said, obviously distracted. She gave another little smile as she stepped in and shook the rain off her clothes.

"You would think that since we're in the clouds, we wouldn't have any rain… but Zeus has been a bit of a foul mood lately." Aphrodite said conversationally as they walked through the main room to a couch. Ares dumped himself and gestured to a rather nervous love goddess to as well.

"I'd rather stand, thank you." she said with a small voice. Ares gave her a look that said, 'Suit yourself' and urged her to continue. "Well," she began slowly and began to pace. "I just thought I'd start off by saying that I thought I was doing the right thing…" Aphrodite trailed off into the distance and Ares leaned forward.

"Yes?" he inquired, still trying to keep his cool façade. He ran a hand through his now longer, scruffy hair, becoming impatient.

"Well, y'know that makeup that Artemis has been wearing as of late?" Aphrodite asked, wringing her hands and looking like a child caught in a wrongdoing. Ares nodded slowly, raising an eyebrow and rubbing his chin. "Well, it has… special qualities… special, erm love qualities…"

Ares stood, the fire once again blazing in his eyes. "Wait, so this past year has been one of your fake love schemes? Why? To get back at me? _You_ broke up with _me_, in case you forgot!" He stuck a finger in her face and her bottom lip trembled.

"Yes, I remember! Because I wanted to go back to my _husband_! I wanted to make _amends_! I _never_ loved you! I was being a rebel-ish little girl and I'm sorry for using you! I was too young to marry then but I'm ready to be a better wife now! I see through him! Past his appearance! I saw the opportunity between you two and I took it! The makeup only brings feelings to the surface! I only sped up the inevitable. Because, let's face it, you two are made _for each other_. I was just too stubborn to realize it sooner. I have fallen in love with my husband. I was the love goddess who never knew what love really was. What you two have is more than anything I ever had!" she was much stronger then when she began, each word making her more and more passionate and frenzied.

Ares was hanging on to her every word glaring at her in a new light. The past few centuries were just disappearing as if they never happened. Aphrodite gave a little smile. "You feel it too. Zeus is testing you. If you're willing to face an eternity of forges or punishment to get her then that's when Zeus is going to know that you're ready. A lot of people see you as a coward; this is your chance to prove them wrong. Be brave, Ares! When she gets back, tell her how you feel and if she feels the same way then makeup will go away. Forever."

She smiled, a real, beautiful smile. "I want nothing but the best for you. I'm sorry I've been holding you back. I've grown up. Now it's your turn." At this she put a hand on his shoulder, squeezed and nodded her head. "You know what you have to do, but now I must get back _home_." She found her way out and Ares sank into the couch once again, at a loss for words.

He knew now that this was a battle he could not win. And even worse; he was going to surrender.

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'Well, I guess this is it. Maybe Zeus will let me come back every once and I while. I mean, I can't spend my whole life hunting,' thought Artemis to herself as she packed to go back to Mount Olympus. The summer was over and it was one of the best in her life. If only her Hunters were here. Her loyal friends.

But one thing that stood out this whole summer was all the complications of a relationship (is that what they had?). This was another reason why she had decided to take the post of the Pure Goddess; hopefully by using that excuse she could avoid unwanted lovers. The problem now was that she was unsure as whether or not he was unwanted.

'I'm going home today. Maybe everything will clear up by then,' she thought as she moved across the yard to her chariot. Sarha and Serhey (both with their very large pointed sticks) were standing at attention on either side of the entrance, smiling as they had never smiled before. And then, surprising them all, Artemis leaned in and hugged them tightly.

"I'm sorry I never fully appreciated you before. Can you ever forgive me?" she asked and the girls gave one another twin looks of disbelief. The once tough feminine leaders stuttered their affirmatives and looked to the driver for help. Thalia stood at the reins, grinning widely with a crooked mouth.

"Commander… it's good to have you back." Thalia jumped from the chariot and landed in front of the goddess, gave a very uncharacteristic curtsy, and pulled Artemis in for a hug. The two friends embraced for a while but broke when they heard a heavy panting from behind. The huntresses turned to find Percy Jackson and his friends looking as if they had just recently rolled out of bed.

"We heard…*pant pant* that you… *GASP* were heading out… *choke* this morning and…" began Percy.

"We decided… *clutch* that we should… say goodbye!" Annabeth gasped.

"You know… before you left," finished Grover who was slightly doubling over.

Artemis smiled and Grover almost fainted. "Thank you; I really appreciate your kind efforts. Why are you all so out of breath?"

Percy and Annabeth exchanged glances while smirking. "We had to round up your surprise! You've meant so much to us this summer and we learned so much more under you then anyone else who has taught us. We wanted to show you how appreciated you are! We prepared this…" Annabeth flourished her arms like a ringmaster in a circus and instruments hummed from all sides as magical creatures and campers alike began to play.

The satyrs and tree nymphs pulled out flutes while Aphrodite girls and boys (yes she does have boys too) danced. They all formed two lines and the dancers skipped in the middle, tree and water spirits throwing petals. Then Artemis joined in by calling birds, deer and other creatures from the forest and they came to mingle.

After the performance ended Artemis could have jumped with all the joy she felt. But that's when she sobered. She was going to be the person she was before. The summer was over, and so was this new Artemis. She settled for a polite smile that was something like a grimace. "That has got to be the most wonderful, thoughtful thing that anyone has ever done for me. I thank all of you greatly."

"We're going to miss you Artemis," said Percy and there was a murmur of agreement through the crowd. "We wish you the best of luck."

"Thank you," she said again and turned once again to her chariot. But another voice stopped her.

"Hey, Ice Princess!" It was Clarisse. She parted the crowd as a boat did waves until she reached Artemis. "I just wanted to tell you that if there was anything the Ares cabin can do to help you in the future, let us know." And then, the impossible happened. Clarisse smiled. And HUGGED her. The rest of the cabin leaders, one by one, pledged their help.

Her eyes were filled with tears and she could swear they could hear her heart break as she climbed the stairs to sit next to Thalia.

"It's time to go m'lady."

She glanced at the campers. Then, taking all her strength, she turned to Thalia.

"Yes, it is."

Page Break

**Well, I probably only have one or two more chapters and it's all wrapped up. I really need help! If any of you have any ideas… review or PM me or something! I take anonymous reviewers too so yeah.**

**FYI I went online to see if Artemis and Ares had any 'history' if you know what I mean and I found this…**

_**Before their birth, the coming of the twins was fortold. They were sons of Poseidon, and could not be killed by either God or man. Mighty Zeus' thunderbolts were useless, as was Heracles' strength. As the boys grew into giants they learned arrogance and the anger that comes from invulnerability. Ephialtes decided that he desired the Goddess **__**Hera**__**, and spent long evenings invisioning how he would dominate and violate the proudest and noblest of the Goddesses. Otus preferred **__**Artemis**__**, the Virgin Lady of Wild Things, for his rape subject. He would do what no other could. They had great strength and mighty issues, did this pair.  
Rightly, the twins discounted the brute strength of the Gods. They were male, and looked only to the male strength as a threat. The female power - that of wit - was never considered.**_

_**So Otus and Ephialtes set off for Olympus, planning to crush the Gods before them and set themselves up as the new rulers of the world. During their seige they locked up Ares in a little bronze jar for 13 months. They had taken over Olympus soon, and there appeared to be no hope for the Olympians. During a break in the battle, Otus and Ephialtes called for Hera and Artemis repeatedly. Time after time they were refused, until at last, miraculously, the Goddesses accepted. Or rather, Artemis did. Hera still refused vehemently. Artemis went to Otus, and said if he would let out Ares, he could do with her what he would. Otus was ecstatic, but Ephialtes wasn't too happy. The brothers began to quarrel, and when they weren't looking Artemis turned into a deer. When the fighting reached a peak, she sprang between them as a white doe. Both men broke off and threw their spears at the lovely creature, but they were so distracted, and she was so fast, that the spears missed. Not only did they miss, but Artemis had set them up so that when they threw what was actually impaled was the brothers.**_

_**Otus and Ephialtes accomplished what none of the Gods could do, they killed each other.**_

_**Artemis returned to Olympus a heroine. Hera retained her dignity. Ares . . . well, Ares they left in the jar a little longer. No one liked him very much.**_

**Also something else in the Adonis myth…**

_**In some versions of the story of **__**Adonis**__**, **__**Artemis**__** or Ares (her lover in this story) sent a wild boar to kill Adonis. This version is suspect because it implies that Artemis had 'a party' with Ares and, by virtually all accounts, she remained chaste throughout time.**_

**And if you guys are looking for more Art/Ares there's some in the Greek Mythology section on FF.N.**


	13. The Proposal

**Well, I hope you enjoy. Hope I did everything right. This is actually the last chapter I'm writing 'cause I finished the epilogue first. It's really weird. Well, thanks for the reviews and I'm really sad to see this go. Hope you like it!**

**Thanks for reviewing!**

**Disclaimer: I OWN NOTHING! Except for some really sick hot pink pants that remind me of Rachael.**

**(start chapter)**

Thalia helped Artemis down from her chariot and she closed her eyes to breathe in the sweet Olympian air. Thalia grinned and stood next to her goddess, looking out to the beautiful palace of the Gods. "Does it feel good to be back milady?" she asked and began to unpack Artemis' possessions from the alcove in the back. The suitcases were white as was the rest of her wardrobe.

"It does. But it does not feel as it used to," she said her voice fluttery and distant. She looked around a bit, lost in her trance but was brought back by the sound of Thalia gasping under the weight of a particularly heavy white suitcase. She jogged over to help.

Grunting some more Thalia said, "Wow, this thing is sure heavier than it looks." Artemis looked at her and nodded her head in agreement. They were struggling to get it to the ground and suddenly large male hands went on either side of the suitcase and lowered it with an infuriating ease.

"Ares," Thalia announced. She nodded her head up in the weird way teenagers greet one another.

He nodded back up and replied back, "Child Hunter-Chick."

"It's Thalia."

"Right- sorry," he looked genuinely cross with himself for not bothering to know her name. "Zeus' little girl right? The Tree?"

"Er, yes that's me. I was wondering if you could help us with these bags." Thalia's courage was admirable and Artemis just stood quietly watching the proceedings with awe. Usually if someone talked to Ares like this they became, quite literally, Dust in the Wind. Thalia was just smirking the entire time and Artemis kept up a good poker face ™.

"Sure." Ares shrugged and began to unload the chariot. "Geez Artemis, I don't remember you having so much stuff in here when you left!" he exclaimed when he carried down a deceivingly heavy box.

"Well, I decided on my way back after a lot of thinking that I should probably start living in my house up here. I mean, a girl can't live in a tent the rest of her life. I shall still Hunt, but not as often. I have some personal affairs to set in order." She explained and started reloading into a large floating cloud cart. "So on the way back we did a little shopping, to make my house a little more home-y."

"I thought you hated shopping," Ares accused and dumped a box on the cart.

"I do, but it was necessary. There are things we all need to do at one point in our lives and unfortunately, shopping is one of them," she said with a regal air. If any of them were noticing anything besides one another, they would have realized that Thalia had gone to park the chariot not more than five minutes ago.

"Hey, did you hear?" Ares asked after another twenty minutes of work and a not- so- uncomfortable silence. Now they were walking to her new home which was pretty much just white marble with gold trimmings. It was huge, and pointlessly so because she had no one to share it with.

"No I just got back. Hear what?"

"Zeus is calling us both for a meeting, so I was wondering if you wouldn't mind going out to dinner with me before the time we're supposed to be there." He bit the inside of his lip and then realized he was being foolish. Acting scared in front of a _girl_? He was the _war god_ for Zeus' sake!

"What did you have in mind?"

"Is that a yes?"

"It's a maybe."

"Well, I'm not hearing a no." They were playing now and he knew that she found the exchange amusing.

"But it wasn't a yes." Her eyes shined in good humor and a smile had begun to form on her lips.

'_Lips… _wait… get a hold on yourself Ares!' he thought angrily to himself and gave the cart a final push up a large hill to her new home. He opened the gate and they walked to the front door together. He led the cart inside and sat up on the marble kitchen countertop.

"I'm waiting for an answer."

"I'm waiting for an agenda."

"My house, wine, seven o'clock. Maybe I'll throw in a movie if you're nice."

"Much better. Well, okay then. Sure. What time is the meeting with Zeus?"

"Ten. Him and Hera are getting along _much_ better nowadays and all his appointments have been placed at stupid times in the day. Who wants to have serious discussion at ten o'clock at night when all you want to do is go to bed?" Ares rambled and Artemis began to blush but caught herself. 'He didn't mean it like that! You're acting like a little girl!' she chastened herself.

"Well, it's been a blast but I gotta get home. Shower and all. Long day at the forges." He jumped from the counter and stood in front of her.

"You were in the forges today?" she was confused and furrowed her eyebrows. "But summer ended yesterday." 'Did I get here one day too early?' she thought in horror.

"Ah, no. Hephaestus wanted to talk to me about something. I just needed an excuse to take a shower," he admitted sheepishly.

"You never need an excuse to take a shower," Artemis pointed out.

"When you're me; you do." He kissed her on the forehead and grinned. "See ya later kid."

Artemis watched him leave in silence and close the door (white) behind him. The goddess grinned when she swore she heard a whoop of cheer outside. Then she turned to all the unpacked boxes and the grin disappeared. "Oh Artemis, what are you doing?" she mumbled to herself and began to unpack the first box.

(Scene change)

"Hey, you look great," Ares said in wonder as he opened the door to find a quite radiant goddess. It was like she was radiating purity and he thought she was an angel for a second. She suddenly found her pumps very interesting.

"It's just me…" she mumbled. She glanced shyly at him and he grinned. "I'm not even dressed up. I don't think I know how."

"Well, I think you did a fantastic job. A vision in white." His gaze was too much and she had to look away. Then with a start he realized his rudeness. "Oh, I'm sorry! Come in!"

"Your house is… charming." Artemis was at a loss of words as she looked around at all the red, the deep deep red, the boars and the openly displayed weapons. "Nothing I wouldn't expect. Who's your interior designer?" she smirked.

"That would be me." Ares laughed (he had been doing a lot of that lately, hadn't he?) and shut the door behind them.

They stood in silence for a bit, studying one another, until Artemis broke the silence. "So… what's for dinner?"

Ares laughed again. "I don't know! Let's take a look- see around the kitchen, shall we?" he stuck out his arm like a gentleman and she took it, looking quite flattered. He led her in the kitchen, which was very red, and opened up the fridge and the food cupboard. "Take a look and see what takes your fancy."

"Wow, aren't we using big- boy words now!" she teased and looked around. She frowned. "I see you like pasta."

"In truth, it's really the only thing I can make. Except maybe salad." Ares looked a bit bashful through his admission but it was an act as he broke into an attractive half- grin.

"Then pasta and salad it is!" Artemis announced as though making up her mind. "I can make sauce if you want," Artemis graciously offered.

"Sure, if you want." Ares shrugged and began pulling out ingredients.

"You know," Artemis began after a while of food- making. "Just because I'm being this nice to you doesn't mean I still can't kick your ass."

Ares grinned over the boiling pot of water as he dumped the pasta in. "That's good to know. I need a good ass kickin' every once in a while. Just don't tell Percy Jackson that, he might just come back for more." Artemis smiled and Ares just knew he would and could never, ever be able to get enough of that smile. Artemis never smiled much, thought it would ruin her rep. Then again, that's the same reason he never smiled.

She began to feel uncomfortable by his attentions and went back to the sauce. "I'm just saying," she said in a tone of mock annoyance, "that this would have been a lot easier to make if you called me three hours ago."

He strode over to her and placed his head near her shoulders, breath tickling her face and he smelt the pot over her shoulders. "Smells good to me." And Artemis couldn't help but feel a bit cold when he left.

"Clarisse misses you. They all miss you." Artemis tried once again to strike up a good conversation.

"Yeah, the last time I was there I really didn't get to spend much time with them did I?" Now he was making the salad, which he usually referred to as 'rabbit food'. "Hey you almost done?" he looked back at her and she nodded.

"It's just going to be a few more minutes for it to simmer. Usually I don't cook, so I'm pretty proud of myself. Then again, I haven't exactly tasted it yet." Artemis was surprised at how her personality had changed over the past year and realized how dull she had been when she just had been 'The Huntress'. It's a wonder how Ares even liked her in the first place. The cold personality just naturally went with trying to avoid boy attraction.

"I'll go set up the table," Ares offered and went to the next room to begin.

"Okay. I'll come in when it's finished."

After when the sauce was done, she contemplated just going back in and telling him. Then, she decided it would just be a lot easier if she served them now. Her rumbling stomach agreed with her. 'He can always get more later if he wants' she thought and began heaping portions on a semi- fancy plate. As can only be assumed, they were cracked, possibly from a bad temper rampage.

"Here you go," Artemis announced, setting down the plate down in front of his seat, and another one in hers. The tablecloth was indeed red and the cracked silverware gave the room a bit of an eerie feel. "It's a good thing you didn't light those candles, or else I would be upset," she joked as Ares pushed in her chair for her.

"Yeah, the bad part about hangin' around with the romance goddess is, well, all the romance. It drives you crazy after a while," Ares said matter- of- factly, pushing in his own chair. Artemis smiled softly and picked up her fork. Ares did the same and they began to eat.

"You might want to know," Ares started after a bit. He was trying to sound casual, but failing miserably. Artemis raised her eyebrow. "That when I was talking to Aphrodite the other day she said something about the makeup that might interest you."

"Yes?" Artemis asked slowly, not entirely sure where this conversation was heading.

Ares took another bite before continuing. Swallowing, he began again. "She was saying that in order for the makeup to be removed, um, certain _topics_, erm, must be brought up."

"What sort of topics?"

'Geez she is not making this easy on me is she?' he thought. "Well, certain things must be said…"

"What sort of things?"

He blew a stray hair out of his eyes, and then defeated the purpose by mussing it up again with the hand not clutching the fork. "Things like… cough love cough." Ares cleverly ended the last word with a cough.

Artemis was not impressed. "Excuse me? I didn't catch that last word."

Ares was acting like a kid on his first date. He dropped the fork and reached across the table to take her hands in his. Then he thought better of it and took them back. Artemis was only looking slightly amused.

"Well, you might have guessed that Dad is gonna talk to us tonight about, er, stuff that we can and cannot do, and um, I just wanted to let you know, before he draws the line," he took hold of her hands again. She was now looking like she just saw a ghost, afraid and excited what his next words were going to be. "Oh crap… um, well, before Dad does anything stupid that all of Olympus is going to regret, I wanted you to know, that, erm…"

"Is the mighty Ares afraid?" she whispered. "I am too."

Ares seemed to gather all of his strength as he looked into her eyes. "I think I love you." His breath was caught in his chest and he wasn't about to let it escape unless she gave some sign that she heard him.

Then she broke into a grin to light the whole world. "I think I might just love you too." He smiled too and exhaled. And when he leaned in to kiss her, her face suddenly glowed even more. She looked startled and looked to him for help. He shrugged and the light enveloped her, making her a white mass of white light.

When the light subsided, there stood a very makeup free, but not a bit less beautiful (in Ares' opinion, even more so, but his opinion was slightly bias) Artemis. Her smile never faded as she leaned in for them to meet in the middle. But before they could touch, the clock chimed ten.

A single gray cloud appeared over their heads and expanded to cover the both of them. Then the cloud crackled and a lightning bolt zapped them, sending them to Zeus' office.

(Scene change)

"So, Artemis, I see your makeup disappeared. You look great. And son, you look very smashing. I am truly impressed that you dressed up on my behalf." Zeus sat behind his desk twiddling his thumbs and looking quite bored with the appearance of his children.

"Er, yes, that's why I'm dressed up. For you." Ares raised an eyebrow and looked at his love with exasperation.

"Come, come, and sit down! Don't be strangers!" Zeus seemed very cheery ever since he had made amends with his wife. Artemis and Ares slowly lowered themselves into their seats and stared at Zeus expectantly. "I would like to discuss very important topics with you tonight, I already went over them with the rest of the council and they decided that it would be best to bring them up. Are you ready?" The other Olympians nodded. "First of all, do you love one another?"

This question startled them; it was the last thing that they expected to come out of Zeus' mouth. They both shifted uncomfortably in their seats and nodded. "Speak up kids! Don't be embarrassed." Zeus was having way too much fun now.

"Yes Father." They both mumbled. Then they realized how wrong it was to be having the same father and to be talking about love. Then they convinced themselves that they are only HALF siblings.

"Now next, I am getting old; Ares don't interrupt. As I was saying, I am catching on in the millennia and I want to know that all my children are happy and settled. Would either of you be opposed to a marriage?"

This startled Artemis so much that she choked on air. Gasping for breath, the word she uttered came out a, "_WHAT_?" Ares patted her on the back to help her catch her breath.

"Yes, that's what I said."

"But isn't it a bit soon Father?" Ares asked after Artemis had gained control over herself and now was clutching her heart.

"If you know its true then you should have waited long enough." Zeus was beginning to get gruff over his child's impudence.

"Er, I will if she will." Ares was feeling very awkward and rushed and kept shifting in his seat. Artemis was not doing a better job composing herself.

"And I suppose I will too. But Father, fast and totally illogical as this situation is, what about my er, _status_?"

"We discussed that problem as well," Zeus smiled under his beard. "You shall now be the goddess of Virtue until Wed and each of your female children will pass on the full Purity job until they marry, then the next then the next etc. ect. Do you understand?"

"Wait a second. One second I'm engaged by my father and the next I'm having tons of girl kids?" Ares was close to one of his famous tempers by now. "Don't you think WE need to think about this a little bit?"

"As I said before, SON, if you think you're doing the right thing, then it shouldn't really be a problem, should it? Plus, you guys are IMMORTAL, as in GOOD LOOKING FOREVER. It doesn't matter how many kids you have." Zeus was beginning to get impatient again. He so desperately wanted to go home and cause a lightning storm in the Mediterranean region.

"Hm, I guess you're right," Ares grumbled. He hated not being right.

"This is stupid!" Artemis exclaimed and threw her hands up in the air.

"Oh yeah?" challenged Zeus. "Tough centaur."

Then with a zap of electricity they were both standing outside Artemis' house.

"You know, I really hate it when he goes all Godly Leader on me." Ares said rubbing his eyes and looking very tired.

"So, I guess we're engaged." Artemis tried to be a conversationalist.

"Yeah, I'm not too thrilled about how that turned out," Ares grumbled. Then an idea stuck him, as hard and fast as one of Zeus' bolts. "How about we try this again."

He knelt in front of her and pulled out an imaginary ring box. She played along and gasped.

"Oh it's beautiful! It will match my eyes!" Ares just rolled his eyes and cleared his throat.

"Artemis, Goddess of Marital Purity, this is probably the cheesiest thing I have ever done in my entire life and someday some teenage girl will probably sit at home writing this and thinking its cheesy too. Who knows? I've learned from you that anything can happen. Will you take a lousy War god to be your husband?"

Artemis pretended to think long and hard before finally turning to him and saying. "I know that you tried your hardest and it is rather cheesy, but I will. I will marry you."

He stood up and embraced her.

They were married three years later, because they felt rushed. Also, because they had forever.

(break)

**Sooo, correction. THIS was the hardest chapter to write. I just hope that someday I will look back on this and laugh. Oh geez. I already have the epilogue done, but I'm just going to post this first and see the reaction. Maybe if I get some more suggestions I could throw something else in here (wink wink). But thanks for the support! Thanks to all the little people! Haha.**


	14. The Epilouge

**Well, this is it. My first REAL story is complete. Don't worry, more Ares Artemis will be coming your way soon. I had a lot of fun making this, when I originally made the first chapter I really didn't plan for it to kick off like it did so I want to thank everyone who reviewed. Even if you weren't a regular like Half Blood in Training, acast, artemis-roth, Hyperpotterprincess or ZoeNightshade2214, I want you to know that I was psyched with every review that I got. I feel like I'm giving a Grammy speech or whatever! Haha! Thanks for favorite-ing me, alerting me or just giving support. I hope you had as much fun reading as I did writing.**

**Enjoy!**

**POTS**

Epilogue

"Aikaterina, get over here right now!" shouted Artemis as she chased her two year old daughter throughout the house. Right now the little girl was naked and laughing as her mother ran around with a towel to try and mop up the soapy bathwater. Suddenly as Aikaterina neared the kitchen, her father came out behind a corner and scooped her up. Laughing, he deposited his daughter in his wife's arms.

"Wow we really bagged ourselves a feisty one, eh honey?" Ares chuckled and helped wipe his child who was giggling. Artemis gave him a look that was half amusement, half exasperation. Together they wrestled the squirming child up the stairs and into her clothes.

Aikaterina, meaning pure in Greek, nicknamed Kat, was a stunning miniature of her mother. The only real resemblance she had to her father was the intense hazel eyes that seemed to brood into her victims. With long brown hair and a small frame, it was obvious that she was going to be the new Artemis.

"Why did we need to buy her _all_ of her wardrobe white?" Ares complained as the tugged yet another white dress over his little angel.

"Because she's the next pure goddess, we need her to look the part," grunted Artemis, who was tugging at an impossible zipper.

"Oh yeah I forgot." Ares said sarcastically and rolled his eyes. He handed his wife the brush and she began pulling knots out of the still wet hair. The little girl began to cry and Ares looked at her with raised eyebrows. She quieted. When Artemis began to put it in an elaborate braid Ares whined impatiently.

"Oh shush up you big baby and hand me that scrunchie."

"You know a ton of my friends would kill me if they knew I knew what a scrunchie was." Ares grumbled but nevertheless gave her the band.

"Alright Princess I think you're done," Artemis announced and hooked arms with her husband. "Now give Daddy a nice curtsy." Kat curtsied shyly and then hiked her skirt up to her face, giggling and showing her tummy.

"My little Princess," rumbled Ares as he smiled fondly down at her. Then, as if realizing his image was deteriorating by the second, his grin disappeared.

Artemis was watching him the entire time and his expression changes. He found her watching him and she grinned. "C'mon scruffy, let's get this girl downtown. She's going to want to see her uncle."

"Can we take the motorcycle?" Ares pouted looking very much like his kid.

"Ah- let me think… no! We'll have to take the chariot." Artemis scolded and began to head down the stairs.

"But the bike can fly too!" he called after her and picked up Kat.

(scene change)

"How is my favorite niece?" Apollo said in that voice that adults use on babies. He picked her up and twirled her around, making her laugh.

Apollo's house was quite literally mind boggling. Everything was a bright yellow or gold that would make ordinary people go nuts. He always said that it looked really cool when in full god form and the whole room sparkled. Artemis had never stood around too long to see the show but she was getting better at making time for her family. Thalia had become the replacement leader and Artemis really only showed up on important raids and the like. Apollo often said that they were both getting soft.

"Here come your parents! Hey Kat, can I talk to them really quick? Meet you in the kitchen so we can make mud pie!" Apollo put her down and smiled rays at her. She squealed with excitement and ran to the kitchen.

"Sister!" Apollo embraced his twin, squeezing her shoulders, then seeing Ares he released. "Brother! Bring it in for a man- hug!" and much to Ares disliking, Apollo gave him a big hug while he patted his back awkwardly. Ares mouthed a 'Help me!' to his wife and Artemis pried the sun god off her husband. Apollo slipped an arm over her shoulders and began to talk. "So you know how I have this enemy thing with Eros?" Artemis and Ares nodded. "Well I apologized and now he said he won't do the lead darts with me anymore! Who knows? I might actually have a girlfriend who stays alive!"

The trio settled themselves on the kitchen table, still keeping an eye on the two year old that was banging a spatula on some pots. "You know, my girl might actually be the first real of my godly kids that doesn't embarrass the crap out of me!" Ares said looking at Kat who was now putting a pot on her head like a hat.

"Yeah, at least she doesn't go around shooting arrows into people's butts and wearing diapers." Artemis chuckled.

"Eros does NOT wear a diaper! I have absolutely no idea who started that." Ares defended his son. "Besides it's not like he talks to me anymore. He thinks my wars are killing all his progress. Anyone can shoot people's butts! 'Make love, not war!'" he imitated using a fluttery voice. "Makes me sick."

"Anyway…" said Artemis as she was trying to change the subject. "Did you know that Aphrodite is expecting? With Hephaestus." She added in case it wasn't clear. Since Ares and Artemis' wedding over three years ago Aphrodite had been trying to make amends by inviting Artemis over for tea all the time. "I love how she still feels guilty for not getting us together sooner."

"As she should be." Ares said smugly and crossed his arms over his chest.

"C'mon Ares give her a break, she's trying to be a better wife to Heph." Apollo said. "He's really excited about his baby. It's really sad that it's their first. How long have they been married?"

"The more power to her. I'm just glad she's finally happy." Ares shrugged. "Seriously though, I hope it's a boy and the God of Metal or something, I don't think we need any more love gods." The twins nodded in agreement.

"Yes, well, I've had about enough of tea. Hey Apollo, do you have any soda or something? I need caffeine." Artemis laughed. Apollo brought out a root beer for his sister, a Guinness for Ares and Butterbeer for himself. "Really? Butterbeer, Apollo?" Artemis chuckled at her brother's expense.

"I was over that Harry Potter theme park today and you KNOW how much I love this stuff." Apollo protested and sat back down.

"It's like a thousand calories man." Ares raised an eyebrow and cracked open his beer.

"So? We have control over our appearances. I dropped ten pounds yesterday and added some muscle to my upper arms. What do you think?"

"I wouldn't do much more." Artemis advised. "You'll look like a surfer dude."

"Pie!" shouted Kat and banged around the pots more.

Snapping into action, Apollo stood. "You want make some pie?" the girl nodded anxiously and threw the pot on her head across the room. "Well let's do it kid!"

(scene change)

Two very long hours later Artemis was wiping the chocolate from Kats face with a gold towel while Apollo watched. "Ya know it was really nice of you to visit me. I never see you anymore!" Apollo said right when Artemis finished.

"Now that we have her potty trained it will make all of our lives a lot easier. I might just keep having kids in order to have an excuse not to go to work." Artemis joked.

"So you are thinking about having more?" Apollo asked seriously.

"Well, it's not like I'm going to have any with anyone else, and Kat here has convinced me that kids really are pretty awesome so I'm really going to consider it. Ares is still going to have mortal kids but he's changing the way he does it now. It's more of a matter of pride now that he doesn't want his cabin empty for all eternity," she explained and walked hand in hand, leading Kat to the door. "I don't really mind the kids so as long as he does the Athena mind birth thing."

Apollo nodded his understanding and kneeled down to Kat when they reached the front door. "Did you have fun?" Kat nodded and hid behind her mom's leg.

Ares head popped in the front door. "The chariots ready to go, whenever you are."

Artemis turned to face her brother. "Thank you." she said, looking into his eyes as Ares came from behind to wrap an arm around her waist. "For everything."

"You're very welcome. I love you guys," Apollo said.

And, needless to say, they all lived happily ever after.

**(end story)**

**So, as I say for the last time, WHAT DID YOU THINK! It would really make my day if you would tell me everything on your mind, about any chapter. Maybe Kat will have her own story! Who knows? I would probably have stopped after the second chapter if not for you guys. I love the support and I say;**

**May the Sugar always be with you!**


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